
qassl ff 444 



Book 



)$3(o CL 



STEAM VOYAGE ?v 



THE DANUBE, 



WITH BKETCHES OF 



HUNGARY, WALLACIHA, SERVIA, 
TURKEY, Sec. 



^ 



BY MICHAEL J. QUIN, 

AUTHOR OF "A VlfalT TO SPAIN.' 






i AMERICAN, FROM THE THIRD LONDON EDITION. 



NEW YORK: 
THEODORE FOSTER. 



76. 



MUCCCJUCXVI. 

4 



-*-W 



.ft 









ADVERTISEMENT. 

TO THE 

AMERICAN EDITION. 



The estimation as a writer and as an observer, which the author 
of the present work procured for himself by his " Visit to Spain," is 
sufficient in the first place to warrant his re-appearance in the pres- 
ent form. But independent of such prepossessions, there are intrin- 
sic merits in the present work which fully entitle it to a distinguished 
place in the world of letters. 

The subject is both important and altogether new. It is important, 
because in its results it opens a new and extensive field to commer- 
cial enterprise; and commerce, it is well known, brings blessings 
both physical and intellectual in her train. The subject involves to 
the world in general a far more intimate knowledge of the countries 
through which the Danube rolls his course than hitherto could be 
obtained. The resources of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Servia, 
and Wallachia, will be more effectually developed, the energies of the 
people will in all probability be called more strongly into action, and 
central Europe may lhas, like the central states of the American 
Union, find water conveyance to the sea, which will thus call pro- 
perty into more powerful and effective action than there has yet been 
occasion for. Germany too — the land of metaphysicians, as it may 
thus become better hnotrn, may also come to know, better, mankind 
practically. In fact, an intercommunion of knowledge and of benefits 
must inevitably ensue from the encouragement of steam navigation 
on the Danube, not the least of which will be the dissemination of 
liberal principles among the strong holds of absolute power, or of 
aristocratical pride. 

That these results should be brought at a wish it would be vision- 
ary to expect. There are too many clashing interests both national 
and individual, to oppose the peaceful progress of such a consumma- 
tion. It is much, however, to awaken attention to the subject. When 
those advantages are brought forcibly to view at once, by the obser- 



4 ADVERTISEMENT. 

vations of the intelligent and the well pointed remarks of the scholar, 
they do not fall unheeded to the ground, although time and circum- 
stances may not permit them to be put in immediate operation. A 
man of talent and experience may go over the ground, and commu- 
nicate the observations which he has collected, with energy and 
truth. If it do but incite others to pursue the same track, so as to 
confirm or to correct what he has already set forth, much good has 
been produced. Iteration and reiteration is sometimes necessary, as 
well as a concurrence of circumstances, before a great woik can be 
brought to bear. 

So in the subject of these pages, there are countries that would 
gladly avail themselves of these improvements in art, both for their 
political and social benefit: but there are others, and powerful ones, 
that may view these advantages in prospect with jealous eyes, and 
foreseeing the diminution of their own influence, from these innova- 
tions, will lay the hand of powerful oppres^ion upon them, and CI 
if possible, every germ of independence. 

The subject, as we have said before, is a No new. No one, before 
Mr. GLuin, has brought it so fairly and fully before the public, and on 
this account also it richly deserves to be safely retained : it will be 
well to compare it with sure h there is little 

doubt that many will occur, and we have no fear but that our author's 
hasty sketches and thoughts will be found substantially correct. 

The work is lively, and full of anecdote, and is therefore well fitted 
for those who read only for amusement, as well as fur those whose 
higher object is earnest inquiry. 



PREFACE 

TO THE 

THIRD EDITION. 



Since the first and second editions of this work were published, 
several genilemen have called upon me, to inquire whether the navi- 
gation by steam has been yet completed from Presburg to Constanti- 
nople. It may be useful, therefore, here to state that the steamboats 
do not yet regularly proceed further down the Danube than Galacz 
The vessel intended to carry on the intercourse from that place to the 
Bosphorus, had been fitted out and despatched from Trieste in the 
autumn of 1834. But in the mean time, the object which the Danube 
Company had in view, is for the present frustrated; and the vessel in 
question has been since employed as a packet between Constantinople 
and Smyrna. 

The Russian government, it appears, has refused permission for the 
steamboats of the Danube Company to pass through any of the em- 
bouchures of that river into the Black Sea without the payment of a 
loll. The whole delta of the liver became exclusively Russian, under 
the treaty of Adrianople ; and military pontons have been recently 
established across the navigable months (if the Danube, with a view to 
prevent vessels of any description from entering the Black Sea in 
that quarter, unless they submit to the conditions exacted by the Rus- 
sian authorities. 

It is certain that neither Austiia nor Great Britain will recognise 
any right on the part of the Autocrat to enforce the toll in question. 
The free navigation of the Danube was secured to Austrian mer- 
chant vessels by special treaty with Turkey: and we contend for the 
same privilege under the last treaty of general peace signed at Vi- 
enna, whereby the free navigation of all the great European rivers 
was assented to by all the contracting parlies, Russia being amongst 
them, at no higher rate of duties than was then lawfully established. 
But there having been then no tolls levied at the mouths of the Dan- 
ube, such an impost cannot now be maintained. The question is still 
under discussion. 
1* 



6 PREFACE. 

In the mean time those merchants who proceed to the Danube for 
the purpose of trading with Hungary, Wallachia, Moldavia, Turkey, 
or Servia, should refuse to pay the tolls which will be demanded of 
them — or at least should pay them under protest. 

The traveller, however, who wishes to become acquainted with 
the most interesting parts of the Danube, navigable by the steamboats, 
will have no cause to regret this strange proceeding on the part of 
the Russian government. The banks of that magnificent river are 
wholly devoid of interest below Vidin. Its beauties commence at 
Belgrade; and from Moldava to Gladova, those wild and sublime 
scenes occur, which I have attempted to describe in the following 
pages. 

The reader will find in this edition a considerable proportion of 
new, and I should hope not uninteresting matter; to the Plates have 
been added also two views of the celebrated " Iron Gate." 

m. j. a. 

1st February, 1836. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter I.— Arrival at Pesth— Embarkation on board the steam -boat— Congress of 
Hungarian ladies— General appearance of Pesth— Buda— Bridge over the Danube— 
Commerce of Pesth— Public buildings— Appearance of Buda— Fair at Pesth— Dealers 
at the fair— The shops— The booths— Display of goods— Horse-market— Pottery— The 
merchants— Mills on the Danube— Fruit- boats— Wool- wagons— Wicker carriages. - 7 

Chapter II.— Captain Cozier — Scene on board — Tyrolese emigrants — Tyrolese amuse- 
ments— Countess N. — Moldavian adventurer— Servian Jew— Navigable rivers in Hun- 
gary—Internal trade— Manufactures— Produce 17 

Chapter III.— Dinner- -Wines— Languages of the party— Plains of Hungary— English 
groom— State of the neighbourhood of Tolna— system of land owners— English farmers 
in requisition— Arrival at Tolna— Battle with dogs— Search tor a bed— Billiards— Cot- 
tage delights— Night scene— Hungarian politics— Wood-boats— Produce — Village of Mo* 
hacs— Costume of the natives— Appearance of the streets— Industry of women— Hun- 
garian ladies and their maids 2S 

Chapter IV.— Battle of Mohacs— Hungarian Power— Solyman— Defeat of the Hungari- 
ans—Steamboat aground— Tyrolese melodies— Night scene—" Hanger on"— Auction at 
cards— 'Knave of clubs" game— How to float a steamer— Military valet— Kamenitz 
— Odescalchi convent— Parting game — Kissing— Neusatz— Carlovitz— Senilin— Greek 
church— Plague at Constantinople 33 

Chapter V.— Battle of Salankement— Preparations of the Turks— Imperial army — Ap- 
proach of the enemy— Arrangements for action— Victory of the Imperialists— Belgrade 
— Semendria— Expanse of the Danube— Islands— Sunset— Spirits of the river - • 48 

Chapter VI.— Windings of the Danube— Civility of the Moldavian— Arrival at Moldava 
— Arrangements for a voyage to Orsova— A Wallachian beauty— Flock of geese— Ditto 
of children— Woodmen-- Commencement of mountain chain— Earthquakes in Hungary 
—Rustic Sounds— Peasantry— Removal to fishing boat— Our equipment— Accusation 
of robbery— Haunt of Vailachian brigands— Romantic gorge — Caverns - - -25 

Chapter VII —Pastoral scene— Echoes— Picture of laziness— Rapids of the Danube- 
Miller and his men— Pedestrian excursion— Wallachian shepherdess— Dancing boors— 
Priest of the Parish — The governor— George Dewar — Contest, between the priest and 
the poet— Supper— Musical treat— The Moldavian— Sketch of the inn room— Hospita- 
ble invitation— Tripple- bedded room— Latin harangue 65 

CiiAPrER VIII.— Domestic arrangements— Count Szechenyi— Milanpsch— Works on the 
Danube — Picture of industry— Auberge— Rocky scenery— Veterani's cave — Arrival at 
Orsova — My chamber and its ornamenta— Bedroom utensils — Hungarian civilization — 
Quarantine adventure— Dinner at Count Szechenyi's— Plans lor the navigation of the 
Danube — Origin of the enterprise 75 

Chapter IX.— Hungarian reforms— Security of property — Orders of nobility— Advanta- 
ges of steam navigation— Reformers— Auxiliary improvements — Club-house— News- 
paper— System of Entails— Censorship 84 

Chapter X.— The Hungarian Constitution— The Golden Bull— Privilege of the Nobles- 
Royal Prerogatives— Office of Palatine— Magnates— County Courts— The Free Towns— 
The Diet— Revenues of Hungary— Reforms 90 

Chapter XI.— Sybaritism— The Count's pursuits— Hungarian language— Verses on the 
Vintage — First appearance of Waliachia— The Iron Gate— Servian Gladova - - - 33 

Chapter XII. Trajan's bridgt — Navigable stations on the Danube — Wonders of steam 
—Speech" of Prince Milosch— Neighbourhood of Gladova— Wallachian hut— Matrimo- 
nial speculation— Tea drinking— Music— Charms of procrastination— Departure from 
Gladova— Bends in the Danube- -Approach to Vidin— Magnate's costume— Visit to 
Hussein Pasha— The pasha's deputy— An interpreter— Explanations— Pleasures ot 
disguise 106 

Chapter XIII.— Hussein Pasha— Hussein's son— Group at the interview— Commence- 
ment of conversation— Conversation prolonged— Steam expedition — Cool reception- 
Pasha's harem— Boat aground— New delays— Zantiote boat— Adventurous changes- - 
Separation— Ionian luxuries— A grave mistake , V 

Chapter XIV.— Zitara Polanka— Turkish hospitality— Interior of a caffine— Mohame- 
dan devotee— Ori3ons— Race of Tartars— Social variety — Turkish khan — The nargille— 
Supper— Women— Seclusion of the sex— Eating in the dark— Visiters astonished— A 
general invasion— Return to the boat— New acquaintances— Nicopoli— Night Scene - 126 

Chapter XV.— Sistow— A delusion— New friends— Good fortune— Greek civility— Walla- 
chian merchants— Supper— Amicable discussion— Saturday evening— Wallachian am- 
bition— Language— Character— Indolence— Habitations— Habits— Agriculture — Mode of 
living— Costume — Females— Ornaments— Origin— Produce 135 

Chapter XVI.— Striking a bargain— Equestrian preparations— Greek v. Greek— Rutschuk 
—Valley of repose— Gipsies— Dinner— going astray— Cogitations— Bulgarian sirls— An 
Alarm 146 



CONTESTS, 

CHAPTER XV.— A boorish group— Night quarters of a caravan— Shumla— An intrnsfon-' 
An angry Turk— Balkan roads— Difficulties of the way— Forests of Haem us— Banditti 
— Terrors — Descent of the Balkans — Dinner — Karnahat — Gipsies — Catching a Tartar — 
A iiery bedroom — A decent khan — Supper 162 

Chapter XVI. — My companion's— Kind attentions— Famine— Annihilation of a fowl- 
Living upon nothing— Disturbance — Still life — Consternation— A desolate town— Turks 
at prayers — Dinner— Alarming rumour*— ■Churiu— The Sea of Marmora— Sili visa 
Street scene — A factotum — News of the day — Tartar generosity — Negotiations - - 16* 

Chapter XVII.— A white cock — Russian agency— Specimen of cookery— Dining in state 
—Departure from Silivria— Muhomedan causeway — Perilous roads— Knowing horses- 
first view of Constantinople — Advantages of its position— Extent of its capabilities — 
An abstracted goose— Entrance of the capital — Fera— Vitali's hotel— The plague-^-Char- 
acter of the malady— Armenian funeral— Associations— Funeral of a Greek - - 171 

Chapter XVIII.— Therapia— Caiques— Precautions— Old England— Ambassador's resi- 
dence — Lord Ponsonby— Diplomatic profession— British into - despatches — 
Dragomanship— Storrn— .Sources of plagues— Proposed im^orementa— Russian designs 
— The Dardanelles— Ibrahim Pasha 179 

Chapter XIX— Trealy of Unkiar 8kelessi— It_3 substance— Third article— Remaining 
patent articles— Audiences of the sultan— Count Orioff— Secret article — Its effect— 
Law of the Dardanelles— Outrage or, international law— Treaty of Petersburgb— Boun- 
Harier?— The provinces— Firman— Russian ascendancy 18B 

Chapter XX.— Dictation— Signal of war — Civilization — Barbaiinu RassJaii C 
Turkish Civilization— Commercial views — Mediterranean trade— Steamboats — Darda- 
nelles— Nullili^ation— Government m -i rode'a answer— Russian magna- 
nimity—Treaty of 1&09— Strait of the Euxine — Russian tdvantasjl • 19i 

Chapter XXI.— Turkish regeneration— Decline of fanaticism— Equality of civil rights — 
The Ottoman Moniteur— Publicity— Judicial institutions— Pressure from without 
merit of indemnity — "War — I$aa1stance — Naval arnsameoi V Me t t k m - - 202 

Chapter XXII.— St. Bopbisr— Armenian religion— Musi "nstan- 
tinopie— The Hellespont — Change of climate -Greeki -Mitylene— Pocket 
winds— Gulf of Smyrna— City of Smyrna -Madame Maracini'l -'" Of course"— Hinde 
cutter - 208 

CHAPTER XXiTJ— Voyage to Vourla— The Brilish FleeV— Tbe Portland— Captain Price 
—My hammock— Bocca SiMa— Cape Colonna — Greece enslaved—Greece free— 
Greek climate— Reign of mind - - 210 

Chapter XXIV.— Gun room —.Mountain- uf MwM MJnJSJtW of tin? Interior — Quoran- 
tine— Deck companions— Holystone--: Mr Dawkuii -Russian policy— Captain Lyons 
—Hospitality— Bay of Napoh Buststd I uhlic walks— Count Armansperg 
— Modern Greeks 221 

Chapter XXV. -Administration of Justice— Popular assemblies— ] tion— 

Bavarian code -Reforms- Aniculture—Aristo -King utho— Russian in- 

trigues—Greek church -Synod— Russian church— Religious feeling— New coinage • 83» 

Chapter XXVI— Travelling in Q ro ec e H ieron — Mysterioos Companieti 
the glen Speculations— Inclinations to bngaiabigt — Alarm— A Virtuoso — Epidaurus— 
Greek servant— Fresh arrivals - On the look-on) -Mosaics— A sad— Ruins— Arcadian 

Scene— Pastoral happin^- DtorUM 235 

Chapter XXVII. — Barunining— Departure for AthtM is— Athens— 

vandalism -The Parthenon Its entublutures icnian 

improvements Road to Corinth rmnoer storm— Isthmus of Corinth — Cut- 

ting the isthmus -Difficulties of the enterprise -Levels of the seas— Corinth— Change 

of climate -Vostizza 2*8 

C» AFTER XX VIII. —Great plane 1ree— Natural curiosity— Ro Police— Trav- 

elling companions -.Motives of travel — Differ -.on* — Settle- 

ment of account*— Patras— Delay— Tbe Evropa A 3toras— 

Greek marriage— Luxurious dog -Temple of Cere s B ay Of Patras— Ants - - - 956 

Chapter XXIX.— Austrian Packet— Livim: OBJ board -Ionian isles— Corfu— Situation 
of Corfu— A day late— Lord Nugent— Garrison libra- haracter— A 

missionary — Voyage— Atmospheric delusio >ntrary winds — Water spout 264 

Chapter XXX.— The deacon— A lost shirt— Grossa islands— The Quamero— Pola Is- 
triau coast— Trieste— Venetian steamer— Venice— Russian artist — II fanalico — Home 
—St. Peter's— High mass — Don Miguel— Congregation— Komun Monarch* — Gregory 
XVI.— The Vatican bill— Gardens ot Nero— The elevation— Christian triumph - - 274 

CHAPTER XXXI.— Papal revenues— Public opinion— DssCOBri t* Rome — St. 
John Lateran— St. Peter's— St. Peter's chair— Windows— Cardinal Weld— English di- 
plomacy— Neapolitan constitution— Austrian ascendancy— British minister at Rome — 
The Sistine chapel— Spanish monk— Vespers— 'Hie Roman hills 9B* 

Chapter XXXTI.— Naples— A pious piper— The chestnut-man— The segTetario— The 
money-changer— Tbe small commission— The fish-broiler— The porters— Macaroni— 
The Toledo— Lotteries— The Sicilians— Neapolitan reforms— Resistance— The V 
—Return home— Expenses of my journey 






A STEAM VOYAGE 



DOWN 



THE DANUBE, 

(Sec. 



CHAPTER I. 

Arrival at Pesth— Embarkation on board the sfeamboat— Congress of Hungarian 
ladies— General appearance of Pesth — Buda — Bridge over the Danube— Com- 
merce of Pesth— Public buildings— Appearance of Uucla — Fair at Pesth— Deal- 
ers at the fair— -The dnops— the booths — Display of goods — Horse market— Pot- 
tery— The merchant*— Mills on the Danube— Fruit boats— Wool wagons— Wicker 
earn i 

While I was preparing at Paris, towards the close of 
last summer, for a journey to Constantinople, by the ordi- 
nary and very fatiguing course over land through Vienna, 
Semlin, and Belg I was informed that steamboats 

had been recently established on the Danube, which would 
enable me to id that river to the Black Sea, and 

thence to the Bosphorus. The hope of accomplishing my 
object by a route so novel, so attractive in itself, and so 
Convenient in every respect, was too tempting to be resist- 
ed. I therefore lost no time in repairing to Vienna; and 
as the scenery of the Danube pas nit little interest. 

between Presbur ;ation begins, and 

Pesth, the modern capital of Hungary, I preferred embark- 
ing at the latter place. I accordingly arrived there by the 
light of a brilliant moon, an hour or two after midnight, on 
the 24th of September, 1S34 ; and as a variety of rumours 
had met me on the road, some stating that the steamboat, 
or Dampshifie, as it is called in that country, had been de- 
stroyed by its own engines, others that it had bulged on the 
rocks, or remained fixed fast in the sandy bed of the river, 
from the want of water, it was with no small pleasure that 



8 EMBARKATION — HUNGARIAN LADIES. 

I discovered the vessel of which I came in pursuit, anchor- 
ed quietly within the shade of the bridge of boats that still 
forms the communication between Pesth and Buda. 

The inns having been all shut up for the night. I was 
obliged to proceed without ceremony on board, through a 
crowd of carriages, packages, and cases of all descrip- 
tions, which were huddled together on the bank, with a 
view to transportation by the steamer to different towns on 
the Danube. The guardians of the vessel were all wrap- 
ped in sleep so imperturbable, that I could find nobody to 
marshal me the way to a berth in the cabin. Having been 
without sleep myself for thirty-four hours, 1 was not at all 
indisposed to follow the example of these worthy sentinels, 
the more especially when, on penetrating to the cabin, 
I found it almost entirely pre-occupied by passengers 
stretched on benches, in full enjoyment of the same 
" sweet oblivion," amidst piles of boxes, trunks, cloaks, 
shawls, baskets, hat-cases, stools, and tables, congregated 
in " most admired confusion." By the glimmering light ot 
a lamp which was suspended from the roof, I at length dis- 
cerned a vacant corner, and having doubled up a seat- 
cushion, by way of pillow, and arranged another as no 
mean apology for a bed, I threw myself upon it. wrapped 
in my cloak, resolved to subside at once into profound 
repose. 

But scarcely had I forgotten that I was slumbering on the 
Danube, when there arose, all of a sudden, such a storm of 
tongues, and such an uproar of laughter around me, that I 
felt for a moment as if, in punishment for my sins, 1 had 
been imprisoned in some enchanted chamber, where sleep 
was especially prohibited. At first the voices sounded as 
though they were distant from the cabin; but before I could 
exactly settle with myself the question, whether I was wa- 
king or dreaming, in they rushed, chattering away as if 
they had all the world to themselves. Morning was still 
far below the horizon, and I, of course, concluded that our 
invaders would soon be tired of their rather premature en- 
tertainment. But vain were all calculations of that de- 
scription ; anecdote followed anecdote ; interrogatory — 
answer — reply — rejoinder — sur-reply and stir-rejoinder — 
slight titter — partial laughter — general shouts — coursed 
each other with indefatigable speed round the circle of this 
noisy congress, until the broad daylight streamed through 
the windows, and dissipated every hope of peace. I was 
shocked at my ungallant thoughts, when I surveyed my 
fair enemies, and found that there were amongst them two 
or three really pretty Hungarian ladies. I confess — God 



FESTH— BUDA. 9 

forgive me ! — that I had more than once wished them all 
at the antipodes. 

Pesth looks extremely well from the Danube. It is, for 
the most part, built in a modern style of architecture ; sev- 
eral of the public edifices, and even of the private mansions, 
are splendid. The national casino, or club-house, forms a 
distinguished feature of the city, which has been wonder- 
fully improved during the last ten or fifteen years. Pres- 
burg is the nominal capital of Hungary; but it has, in the 
estimation of an Hungarian, one fault which nothing can 
redeem — it is near Vienna. It has been, therefore, long su- 
perseded by Pesth, as to ail matters which concern the sci- 
ences and arts, as well as the assemblages and amuse- 
ments of the higher classes. Here they spend their fash- 
ionable season, give their balls, carry on their flirtations, 
and plan both their private and public intrigues. 

Buda, or, as the Hungarians call it, Oferi, on the oppo- 
site side of the river, is connected with Pesth by a bridge 
of forty-seven large boats, united b)' chains, and floored 
with planks. The bridge is said to be three hundred yards 
in length ; it is so constructed that two or three boats, with 
their flooring, may be separated from the rest, in order to 
let the vessels pass which go up and down the Danube. 
In the winter, when large bodies of ice are in motion from 
the higher parts of the river, it becomes necessary to take 
away the bridge altogether; thus, during a part of that 
season, the communication is almost wholly interrupted 
between the two towns, until the river is entirely frozen 
over, and the ice affords a secure passage. Now, as Buda 
is just as social and as merry a place as Pesth, and has its 
own balls and assemblies of every kind, the ladies of both 
towns were easily prevailed upon to give their " sweet 
voices" in favour of a project which some enlightened 
Hungarians have had in view some time, for erecting a 
stone bridge across the Danube in place of the bridge of 
boats, so that there should be no suspension of the gay in- 
tercourse between the two divisions of the capital, at any 
season of the year. In order to accomplish this object, it 
was necessary to provide that the expense of the bridge 
should be defrayed by a toll, from which no person could 
claim exemption. Never was such an innovation as this 
heard of, since the Danube began its course ! Hungarian 
noblemen had been hitherto "privileged, by their rank, 
from the payment of taxes of every description. But the 
ladies on both sides of the river were resolved that their 
winter amusements should be no longer liable to interrup- 
tion ; and so they worried their fathers, husbands, broth- 
ers, lovers, who happened to be members of the diet, until at 



10 COMMERCE OP PESTH— PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

length the measure was carried — and a stone bridge they 
are to have. Slight as this incident may seem to an Eng- 
lishman, it will probably — as the projectors intended it 
should do — lead the way to many useful reforms in that 
country, on account of the principle of equal taxation 
which it has established. 

Pesth, the Transacincum of the Romans, is the seat of 
commerce, and is said to contain about 40,000 inhabitants. 
It is divided into the old and new town, and, as when vis- 
ited by Dr. Bright some twenty years ago, " the streets 
were busy, filled with a motley crowd, chiefly dealers 
and peasants, some in their holyday dresses, but the great- 
er part wrapped in thick cloaks. The native merchants 
sat smoking at their shop doors, a bale of tobacco on this 
side, a huge tub of caviare upon the other ; the baker, with 
a light basket on his shoulders, trotted briskly from street 
to street, announcing his approach by the shrill sound of a 
small wooden trumpet : and Jews, Arminians, and Turks, 
each in the costume of their country, formed themselves 
promiscuously into parties. A few private carriages rolled 
through the streets ; rustic wagons, drawn by oxen, moved 
slowly on ; and fiacres, of which the number was very 
great, had taken up their stations in all the cross-ways and 
open places, each framed after the same pattern, in the 
form of an antiquated square calash." 

They have two theatres at Pesth, one for German per- 
formances, built on a large scale and somewhat in the an- 
tique style, the other, upon a much more limited plan, for 
Hungarian plays. Between the acts of the latter, pieces of 
national music are given on the Dudelsack, the Hungarian 
bagpipe, which is usually adorned in front with a goat's 
head, and covered with a goat's skin, accompanied by sev- 
eral other instruments to which bells are attached, after the 
Turkish fashion. Another favourite instrument in Hun- 
gary is the Langspiel, which Sir George Mackenzie also 
met with in Iceland. It is about two feet long, and being 
placed upon a table, the performer strikes the cords with a 
stick. 

Buda, or Ofen, is the seat of the Hungarian Government, 
and is nearly as populous as Pesth. The fortress seen on 
the lower rock, as represented in the annexed print, con- 
tains the palaces of the Archduke Palatine, and of several 
Hungarian nobles, the public arsenal and theatre, several 
churches, and seems indeed a complete town in itself 
Upon the higher rock, called the Bloksberg, an observa- 
tory has been erected. A handsome street runs along the 
side of the river; other streets, with gardens, run in differ- 
ent directions, ornamented by well-built churches. The 



TAIR AT PE9TII. li 

two towns, seen from the river, produce rather an imposing 

effect. 

Besides the theatres, there are coffee-houses and several 
public gardens at Pesth and Buda, which are much fre- 
quented. There is a magnificent walk shaded by trees, 
alone- the western ramparts of Buda, which is crowded 
when the weather is favourable. A similar walk has been 
constructed on the Pesth side of the Danube. The great 
season of amusement, as in every part of the conti- 
nent, is the Carnival, when there are public balls in both 
towns twice a week, besides numerous public assemblies, 
at which recitations are a favourite entertainment. In 
summer, the favourite place for afternoon excursions is 
the " forest," as it is called, which is in fact a garden and 
shrubbery, laid out with considerable taste. It commands 
some fine views of Buda. 

A very curious spectacle at Pesth is the fair, which is 
held four times in the year in a large open space within 
the town, where a vast quantity of manufactured goods, 
chiefly brought from Vienna, is exposed for sale. The 
genuine riches of Hungary, which are to be found in its 
agricultural produce, are exhibited at the same time in 
several streets of the suburbs. An anonymous Hungarian 
writer drew up a very correct and graphic description of 
the summer fair of 1812, which applies to every assem- 
blage there of this nature. As it exhibits this species of 
commercial traffic in one of its earlier stages, it will be 
read with interest. 

" The greater part of the dealers from Vienna and the 
upper country arrived between the 13th and 15th August, 
or came after the fair of Debretzin (an important town not 
far from the borders of Transylvania) was concluded. 
The regular frequenters of the fair have their shops or 
booths hired by the year, in which they are accustomed 
to sleep, partly to save the expense of lodging, and partly 
for the security of their goods. Those who come for the 
first time must seek some advantageous place to display 
their merchandise. 

" The best and principal shops are found in the Bridge 
street, (the chief street on entering over the bridge from 
Ofen,) in the three side-streets which lead from that street 
to the fair, and in the new, large and substantially-built 
houses around the fair itself, which forms an extensive and 
regular square. In the course of the first week, booths 
were erected for the dealers who lived in the town ; and 
those who had come from a distance established them- 
selves in theirs, which were frequently of very considera- 
ble dimensions. The great spirit of the market was chiefly 



12 THE SHOPS. 

confined to the shops. Merchants who reside in the dis- 
tant ports of Hungary, in the neighbouring countries, and 
in the Turkish provinces, came tcTpayfor the goods which 
they had purchased six, nine, or twelve months before, and 
to make new bargains on the same terms. 

" The booths were so disposed, that a carriage-road was 
left, crossing the open place at right-angles, and dividing it 
into four squares, which were again divided by passages 
and streets. At each end of the chief streets stood a fire- 
engine, with vessels full of water, and a guard of invalids. 
Inlhe booths of the first square, haberdashery wares, hats, 
and clothes for both sexes, were exposed for sale; and the 
name of each street was written on the corners, as Lady's, 
King's, or Palatine's street. In the second square were 
exhibited hats, women's shoes, boots, furriers' goods, 
gloves, and other articles of this description. In the third 
and fourth, iron-ware and cloth were the chief articles. 
On the left hand of the fair was a small place covered with 
booths, where the Greeks offered their goods for sale, par- 
ticularly cloth, leather, and linens. In other booths noth- 
ing but fishing-tackle was sold. In another place to the 
right of the fair, towards the Landstrasse, were exposed 
. linen goods of all descriptions, and to the left, were sights 
and puppet-shows. Further on in the Landstrasse were seen 
immense stores of wool, partly in wagons, and partly in 
houses employed as magazines. The value of the whole 
wool was estimated at five millions of florins. Other mag- 
azines in different places contained many thousand eimers* 
of spirits, or were filled with tobacco, which the peasants 
likewise brought in wagons, or bound together in bales. 

iC Without the Hatvan gate, on both sides of a road, ex- 
tending about half a mile, a motley variety of goods was 
displayed, chiefly the produce of the country, as flax, hemp, 
large heaps of tallow, and complete walls of new wine 
casks, and coarse linen. These, for the most part, were 
sold in the wagons, the traders placing four of them to 
form a square, and covering the intermediate space with 
boards, or with a piece of coarse cloth, — in this way, with- 
out further expense, constructing a temporary habitation. 
Here and there a little party of Jews had established them- 
selves, whose whole materials for traffic perhaps consisted 
of a small stock of old iron. Dealing is not the only busi- 
ness which is pursued at this place, for between the wag- 
ons and the bales of goods, sheds are raised, in which 
gipsies offer refreshments, in appearance as little attract- 
ive as the brown hands by which they are presented. In 

* A Hungarian measure equivalent to nine gallons and nearly nine 
tenins. 



HORSE-MARKET. 13 

these little huts, and around them, people from all the dif- 
ferent nations which inhabit Hungary take refuge; some 
regale themselves on the viands prepared in the kitchen of 
the gipsy; others enjoy a rich melon or a piece of fat, 
which they have brought with them ; while others are con- 
tent with the charms of indolence. This part of the scene, 
which may be deemed a foretaste of the East, is rendered 
full of activity by the countless multitude of horses and 
wagons, by which the buyers, the sellers, the gipsies, and 
the merchandise have been brought to the spot. 

" Still farther, and approaching the place of public exe- 
cution, stands a complete fortification of wagons prepared 
for sale without the iron-work, wagons which are loaded 
with others taken to pieces. To the right the eye wanders 
amidst extensive flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, the 
latter of which sometimes amount to the number of 30,000. 

" Forwards, to the left, is the horse-market, the extreme 
end of which is formed into a circle, by wagons placed to- 
gether, partly designed for sale, and partly the vehicles 
which have brought the dealers and spectators. The 
horses which have been broken in, and are offered to sale, 
form another circle ; the other part of the space is sur- 
rounded with strong paling, and is divided into many par- 
titions, each containing from thirty to forty untrained horses. 
These are purchased from their appearance, without any 
opportunity being afforded for a more minute examination. 
At the gate of each partition stand five or six grooms, arm- 
ed with long poles, with which, when a horse is to be taken, 
they enter the drove, sending the animals in all directions, 
until the one which is required has separated itself, and 
taken refuge in a corner. Here the grooms throw a noose 
over its head ; and according as it is more or less wild, ei- 
ther secure it by a halter to one that is already accustomed 
to the bridle, or throw it down, bind it, and carry it away 
upon a wagon. 

"Another part of the fair, which is well worthy of obser- 
vation, is upon the bank of the Danube, from the bridge 
upwards. Here the finer kinds of pottery are sold in booths, 
and the inferior sorts are exposed for sale either upon the 
vessels themselves, or piled, like cannon-balls, upon the 
shore. An extent of above half a mile in length is covered 
with boats and barges, which serve, together with the banks 
of the river, as the market-place for the goods they bring. 
Many are loaded with wooden ware from upper Austria, 
of which some, as common casks and rough besoms, are 
of so triflihg a value, that it is difficult to conceive how they 
repay the expense of carriage. In other vessels, or upon the 
shore, gayly painted household furniture of every species 
2 



14 THE MERCHANTS. 

is displayed, tempting the country people, by its rich colours, 
to purchase. 

" Below the bridge, the ordinary weekly market is held, 
rendered at this time more lively by the sale of delicious 
watermelons, of which immense heaps lie piled upon the 
shore, and many boats and wagons are entirely laden with 
them. They are sold for two or three kreutzers each, and 
scarcely a child or a beggar is seen in the streets who does 
not satisfy both his hunger and his thirst with this delight- 
ful fruit. 

" Of the places of amusement, the theatre is most fre 
quented ; and, on Sundays and holydays, the people flock 
to the forest belonging to the town — a small, but agreeable 
pleasure-ground, where the lower classes amuse themselves 
with dancing in a saloon erected for that purpose. The 
garden of Count Ortzy, at the distance of three or four 
English miles from Pesth, is open to the public ; and there 
are several gardens in the suburbs. The public baths like- 
wise become a place of great resort to all the lower classes, 
being esteemed both as a pleasure and as the means of 
health." 

A writer in the " Hungarian Miscellany" describes, with 
considerable animation, the mode in which the business of 
the fair is carried on. " The manner in which the Huik 
rian peasant conducts himself in the sale of his product 
when compared to that of the Sclavonian, the German, and 
the Jew, with whom he is surrounded, remarkable and in- 
teresting. The Sclavonian enlarges on the excellence and 
cheapness of his wares with palpable and suspicious ea- 
gerness. The German dresses out his merchandise, turns 
it from one side to the other, and presents himself to the 
purchasers with a commanding self-sufficiency. The Jew 
swears with heart and soul that he will injure no man, and 
the Raitzer is stern, silent, and unaccommodating, but on 
that account his stern and fiery eye pleads with the great- 
er eloquence. The Hungarian alone keeps himself per- 
fectly passive in his dealings. He allows his goods to be 
inspected, answers shortly and directly to the question, and 
attempts not to impose either by words or artifice. You 
perceive, by his embarrassment, that he is unaccustomed 
to low arts; his good temper evidently counteracts the feel- 
ing of poverty, which is therefore borne with ease and con- 
tent. Shirt and skin, and little else, are to be seen, except 
his long hair, which hangs loosely over his shoulders ; and 
all these are scarcely to be distinguished from each other, 
so disguised are they by filth and negligence. The appear- 
ance, in drizzling weather, of the open square at the en- 
trance of the Xonigp-sira^ae, which is the district of the 



MILLS ON THE DANUBE. J5 

Jews, is little more attractive than the quarter frequented 
by the peasants. Whoever feels inclined to study the char- 
acter of this people, will now find an ample opportunity. 
Here they swarm together like bees, fix themselves on the 
passenger who appears likely to trade with them, or traf- 
fic amongst themselves with affected grimaces and an as- 
sumed appearance Gf activity; while tfiey look, with their 
eyes turned both towards the right and towards the left, on 
a hundred objects at a time.'? 

Our cargo of carriages, dry goods, and passengers hav- 
ing been at length all duly arranged, our paddles began to 
circulate at seven o'clock, instead of four, which was the 
hour appointed, and we proceeded on our voyage. The 
morning was splendid. As we moved along, we passed by 
several of those curious flour-mills with which the Danube 
is crowded. These floating machines are very simple in 
their construction. A wooden house is erected in a large 
clumsy boat, moored near the spot where the river is most 
rapid. At the distance of a few paces from this edifice, 
another smaller boat is made fast, parallel to the first, the 
heads of both being directed down the stream. In the in- 
terval between, the waterwheel is suspended, and impelled 
by the natural velocity of the current. These mills, of 
which ten or twenty are sometimes to be found in imme- 
diate succession, are rather picturesque in their appear- 
ance, and give animation to the scenery around them. But 
however convenient they may be to the population on either 
bank of the Danube, where there are no heights for wind- 
mills, it is certain that they afford serious impediments to 
navigation. They uniformly occupy the best parts of the 
river, and tend to the formation or increase of sand-banks 
in their neighbourhood, which, when the water is low, be- 
come, as we subsequently experienced, nuisances of a for- 
midable description. 

I believe there is no river in Europe which winds so 
much as the Danube. It may, with more than the usual 
truth of poetry, be emphatically designated as a "wander- 
ing stream." It consequently abounds with what are call- 
ed "reaches," portions of the bank, which, at a distance, 
look like promontories, and add not a little to the difficul- 
ties of the navigators, who have to work their way against 
the course of the current. It is amusing to observe a boat of 
the country labouring round one of these obstacles. It is 
generally a huge unwieldy bark, constructed of oak, cov- 
ered with a high roof, and laden to the very top with what 
here universally passes under the name of fruit — that is, 
wine, timber, wool, wheat, hay, and produce of every de- 
gree. The vessel is dragged up the river by a force which 



16 FRUIT BOATS. 

is not at first very apparent You behold the vessel tied 
to the end of a rope, which is pulled by something or some- 
body somewhere, and if your eye can discern the "reach" 
at the distance perhaps of a mile, you may discover there 
a dozen brawny Hungarian peasants, half naked, trudging 
along in rope harness, exerting all their strength to draw 
the enormous mass behind them. The more opulent ad- 
venturers, however, frequently employ horses for this pur- 
pose, and then the scene is infinitely more bustling. Twen- 
ty, and sometimes thirty half- wild horses are required to 
supply a sufficient moving power, where the force of the 
current offers more than ordinary resistance. Almost 
every pair of horses belongs to a different peasant, and he 
will allow nobody to lash them but himself. He is most 
probably a nobleman, and it is a part of his privilege to 
drive his own horses after his own fashion. When, there- 
fore, the whole of the team arrives at a difficult reach, it 
becomes the signal for a general mutiny ; the leaders are 
perhaps prancing in the air, while the horses immediately 
behind are endeavouring, with all their might, to bolt off 
into the adjacent country. Here a horse and his compan- 
ion stand quite still, as if they were in doubt whether they 
ought not, before going further, to take a pleasant draught 
of the element at their feet. Half a dozen of the animals 
in the rear have dragged each other into the river, through 
which they are w T ading up to the girth, w r hile the sound of 
a dozen whips, the altercations of the drivers, the angry 
exclamations of the boatmen shouting on the roofs of their 
vessels, the neighing of the alarmed horses, and the bark- 
ing of dogs, combine to form a most ludicrous concert, 
which may be heard far down the river. Although in a 
broiling sun, these drivers keep on their large cloaks, which 
are as essential to the dignity of a Hungarian peasant-no- 
ble, as the wide-brimmed hat slouching over his swarthy 
countenance. 

The high road, that is to say, the track over the verdant 
turf; or the sandy track most frequently trodden, now and 
then ran along the side of the Danube, and exhibited occa- 
sionally specimens of the interior commerce of the coun- 
try. Now, a rude car laden with woolpacks, on the top of 
which was perched a lazy fellow smoking, drawn by eight 
or ten miserable horses, moved at a snail's pace, the wood- 
en axle of the wheels yielding the while a species of music, 
compared with which the hoarsest sounds of the hurdy- 
gurdy would be enchanting. Now a better sort of vehicle, 
a kind of wagon, filled perhaps with watermelons, Indian 
corn, or vegetables, for some neighbouring market, ap-^ 
peared on the scene, drawn by a much better class of 



WICKER CARRIAGES 17 

horses, whose trappings were quite brilliant. The drivers 
of these wagons were generally the cultivators of the land 
which furnished the burden, and they displayed their pros- 
perity in a smart underdress, of which a waistcoat with 
gold or silver plated buttons, and a profusion of silk lace, 
formed the principal ornament. These were succeeded 
perhaps by a troop of travellers, galloping on spirited and 
beautiful animals, or by a family whisked along in a kind 
of wicker carriage, which may be found in all parts of 
Hungary. I travelled a considerable portion of the way 
from Vienna in one of these simple post-chaises, and I 
found it not at all disagreeable. It is on springs, and pe- 
culiarly light, and as, from the irregularities of the road, I 
was often knocked from one side of the vehicle to the oth- 
er without even the civility of a notice, I deemed it a con- 
venience to come in contact rather with a yielding mate- 
rial, such as wicker, than with a solid board from Long 
Acre. And then if the balance were in danger of being 
more than usually disturbed, if one of the wheels aspired 
to figure in the sky, while the other was burjed in a sandy 
rut, I had no great difficulty in jumping out over the sides 
of my carnage. 



CHAPTER II. 

Captain Cozier— Scene on board — Tyrolese emigrants — Tyrolese amusements — 
Countess N. — Moldavian adventurer— Servian Jew— Navigable rivers in Hunga- 
ry — Internal trade — Manufactures — Produce. 

The captain of our steamer was an Englishman, of the 
name of- Cozier, who, being little conversant with any 
branch of nautical science, was about equally skilled in the 
topography of the Danube. Though he had gone up and 
down several times, he knew no more of the caprices of 
the sand-banks than he did of the bed of the Yellow Sea. 
He had a bitter dislike to his office. Why he was permit- 
ted to undertake it, I never could understand. To me, I 
must say, he was communicative and extremely civil ; but 
my fellow-voyagers he treated with a degree of supercil- 
iousness that was very amusing. It seemed to be his set- 
tled opinion, that nobody except an Englishman was wor- 
thy of breathing the same air with himself. To be sure, 
we had a motley crowd on board, such perhaps as never 
met together on the deck of a steamboat before. Behold 
us all, as in a mirror. 



18 SCENE On BOARD. 

I am sitting (time, half past eleven, morning) on a stool 
near the man at the wheel. A little before me, on my right 
hand, are two Tyrolese, sleeping. One of these has on his 
head a green hat, with a wide band of green riband around 
it, in which are stuck some white and black feathers, se- 
lected from a cock's tail, intermixed with the bristles of a 
wild boar. The riband, where it joins, is edged with gold 
lace. Like most of his countrymen, this man rejoices in a 
thick gray frieze jacket, a striped cotton waistcoat, black 
leather breeches, here and there rather whitened by the 
hoar of antiquity, ribbed worsted gray stockings, and 
short, stout, laced boots. He wears his hair long behind, 
somewhat negligee. Another Tyrolese is sleeping near 
him, whose hat was, some ages ago, green, but now par- 
takes of the colour of night. His hatband seems also to 
have enjoyed two shades of existence — it was formerly 
green, now it is a dingy yellow. It is tied in front with a 
bow of pink riband, which, in its early days, must have 
looked seducing, especially as it appears to have been ac- 
companied by an artificial rose and other flowers, the ruins 
of which are still discernible. One of these picturesque ob- 
jects is stretched on a mat; the other has his head resting 
on a coil of rope, his feet on a similar cushion : the inter- 
vening departments of his frame repose on the naked deck. 

While I was admiring the felicity in which these sleep 
ers appeared to be immersed, a woman with a child, the 
wife, I presume, of one of them, came and aw r oke him. 
He rose, and she took his place. Throwing a handker- 
chief over her otherwise bare head, she settles herself to 
sleep. The sun is blazing on her ladyship. The child, a 
round, chubby little urchin, has no fancy at present for fol- 
lowing her example. He would very much prefer a game 
at romps. Trying what he can do in that way. he, slyly 
laughing, pulls the handkerchief off her face. Half angry, 
she gives him a tap, but he returns to the charge, and suc- 
ceeds for a while in attracting her attention by his artless 
tricks, until at length he falls asleep on her bosom. She 
then gladly resumes her interrupted slumber. She is ar- 
rayed in a short blue cloth spencer, edged with black vel- 
vet, beneath w T hich she wears a green thick velveteen pe- 
lisse sort of dress. Thick worsted stockings (I believe!) 
and laced rough boots, complete her apparel. Of the for- 
mer, however, I am not very confident, as I only saw the 
most tiny bit of one of them just beneath the edge of her 
petticoat 

At the feet of this happy matron a Tyrolese boy is fast 
asleep. One would think that noon had been changed into 
midnight Near him a woman of the same nation is sit- 



COUNTESS N . 19 

ting upon a roll of cordage, doing nothing. A little Tyro- 
lese lad, with a cockade of white cock's feathers, and a 
bunch of artificial flowers in his hat, is helping her! That 
must be his father who is sitting near him, smoking, and 
occasionally talking with one of his countrymen standing 
against the springs of one of the carriages, with which, by 
the way, our deck is most inconveniently crowded. Near 
the mast a group of men, all Tyrolese, are engaged in the 
several offices of talking, listening, smoking, musfng, whist- 
ling, singing, and gazing at the dense cloud that rushes 
into the firmament from our black chimney. They are all 
rather better dressed than my immediate neighbours ; one 
of them, a fine-looking fellow, whom I take to be the cap- 
tain of the gang, has his hat cocked in a dandyish style, 
considerably out of the circular shape. His plume of 
feathers, too, is larger and of a finer quality than those 
of the others. This party would make a capital study for 
a band of brigands, could they but assume a fiercer ex- 
pression of countenance. As it is, they look too amiable 
for a Salvator Rosa. At the top of the boat several knots 
of women, still Tyrolese, are sitting in various directions, 
executing for each other, alternately, without the slightest 
consciousness of the external effect of the operation, the 
agreeable task of disburdening their hair of its multitu- 
dinous inhabitants. No wonder that Captain Cozier was 
enraged ! 

Descending into the cabin, I found a party of Hungarian 
nobles — men of genteel appearance and manners — seated 
at a round table, playing cards. They had been thus en- 
gaged all the morning. The stakes were not inconsidera- 
ble, and seemed to be taken up occasionally by the win- 
ners with infinite delight. Near them, sanctioning their 
amusement by her bland looks and smiles, is an elderly 
lady, knitting on a bench, and occasionally conversing 
with an exceedingly elegant figure, somewhat petite, whom, 
upon further acquaintance, I found to be the ( ountess N — , 
on her way from Pesth to Peterwardein. She had mar- 
ried, at the age of eighteen, a hot-headed nobleman of her 
own country, who became attached to her suddenly on ac 
count of her beauty. He took her to Pesth, entered into 
all the amusements of the place, gambling included, which 
is carried on in that capital to a formidable extent. The 
result was, that after a short experiment of two years, they 
were obliged to give up their establishment, and the young 
countess was now returning to her mother, attended by a 
French femme de chambre. the only remaining fragment of 
her transient splendour, except her harp, which she saved 
from the ruin. She was reading a compilation of common 



20 MOLDAVIAN ADVENTURER. 

Hungarian ballads, which seemed to afford her amuse- 
ment. In a corner, two little girls were tittering away 
most merrily — I could not make out at what. Within the 
ladies' cabin I heard some of the laughing voices, which 
recalled the sense of my " murdered sleep" of the morning. 
Upon the whole, I was pleased with the appearance of my 
companions, and flattered myself with the hope of a pleas- 
ant voyage, in which I was not disappointed. 

In the course of the day a variety of new characters 
emerged from the second cabin, and other hiding-places, 
the greater part of whom soon ceased to attract my notice, 
as they were of that class that seems born for the mere 
purpose of transforming animal and vegetable substances 
into human flesh and blood for the ordinary number of 
years. Among these specimens of creation, however, 
there was one little man. whom I shall not speedily forget. 
He was from Moldavia. He had been in the Russian ser- 
vice during the late war with Turkey, but in what capacity I 
could never satisfactory discover. I suspect he was a spy. 
He spoke German, French, and Italian fluently. He wore 
a blue frockcoat, which probably had served him during 
the said war, as it could boast of only a part of one button, 
and two very unequal skirts, remaining in any thing like 
decent condition. The rest of the garment v -red 

with grease. A pair of old black stuff trousers, patched at 
the knees in a most unworkmanlike manner, rent and not 
patched in other parts indescribable, and vilely tattered at 
the extremities, together with a ghost i : waistcoat, 

a cast off military cap. and wretched b< an 

apology for a better suit, which be said he had at home 
His shirt was also in the list of absentees ! He bad lost the 
half of one of his thumbs, the other was wr in a 

bandage. He had not shaved 1 ks — he < 

tainly could not have washed either his h. 'iis face 

for three months, and a comb had probably not 
through his hair for three years. To oown his personal 
peculiarities, he had a very red nose, on the ton of which 
was perched a pair of spectacles. 

Nevertheless, with all these strong objections, against 
him — so strong, that I wonder my friend Captain I 
had not thrown him overboard—- there was something about 
this man which seemed to have actually fascinated a rather 
genteel youth, who was constantly at bis side, and to have 
actually* secured him the devotion* of a miscellaneous group 
of Austrian soldiers and their wives, pedlers. and artisans, 
who occupied mats and sheepskins on deck. With the 
sailors he was quite a favourite. lie whistled well, he sung 
well, and passed off every thing in a "devil-may-care' 



DEPRESSION OF THE DAKUBE. 21 

kind of way, which gained him admirers. A charlatan at 
a French fair — a romance reader at the mole of Naples — 
could not possess more power over his audience, than was 
exercised over these simpletons by this Moldavian adven- 
turer. He had a commonplace-book in his bosom — for his 
pockets had all vanished — from which he occasionally 
read to his followers scraps of poetry of his own composi- 
tion, or selected from the works of celebrated German 
writers. These readings he interspersed with comments, 
often so droll that he set the whole deck in a roar. Then 
he would relate some of his accidents by flood and field, 
or describe his travels, in the course of which he men- 
tioned the most extraordinary scenes in the world, which 
had occurred to him in Constantinople, Bucharest, Prague, 
Vienna, Petersburg, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Gibraltar, Ven- 
ice, everywhere but London, where he had the modesty 
to confess he had never been. His eye, when lighted up 
by the excitement of the moment, was singularly brilliant, 
the flush of fine intelligence was on his swarthy weather- 
beaten cheek, his voice was melody itself, and his diction 
eloquence. 

Retired from the crowd appeared now and then an ex- 
tremely well-looking Jew and his daughter, a pale, slight, 
interesting girl, who seemed to have much to converse 
about on their own affairs. They were dressed in the 
Turkish costume. As 1 passed them the father saluted me 
in Spanish, at which I was not a little surprised. Upon 
further acquaintance, I learned that he was descended 
from one of the Jewish families, which having been ex- 
pelled in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella from Spain, 
were permitted to take up their abode in Servia, where 
their posterity still continue to reside. The Spanish lan- 
guage is spoken by all these Jews, in preference even to 
the tongue of their fatherland, so great is their traditional 
affection for the once Moorish kingdoms of the peninsula. 
This man was returning to Vidin from Vienna, where he 
had been upon a mercantile speculation, which he did not 
explain. We became great friends. The daughter had a 
mandolin, upon which she sometimes favoured me with 
Moorish and Servian airs. 

Our boat rubbed upon the natural bed of the river two 
or three times, very much to the captain's astonishment 
and perplexity. Men were consequently stationed at the 
prow to sound the bottom, when we found, that even 
where it was deepest we had not more than six or seven 
feet of water. I fully expected that we should run aground, 
an embarrassment which was about the last I should have 
thought of in the Danube. I had rather imagined that our 

5?2 



22 NAVIGABLE RIVERS. 

difficulties would have chiefly consisted in evading the 
dangerous rapidity of the flood, for I could not have fan- 
cied the Danube any thing less than a magnificent inunda- 
tion, hurrying forever towards the Euxine. Very much to 
my surprise, however, I found it considerably shrunk be- 
neath its banks, and often so lethargic in its course, that it 
seemed more like a lake than the principal river of Eu- 
rope. 

The passage by the Danube to the Black Sea has long 
been an object of great interest in Hungary. It has more 
than once given rise to bold speculations on the part of in- 
dividuals, which have hitherto entirely failed, owing, in 
some degree, to the jealousy of the Turks, but chiefly to 
the difficulties with which the navigation is attended. 
Those difficulties, before the introduction of steamboats, 
arose from the numerous shallows and sandbanks which 
are encountered in the river, from the rocky nature of the 
bed of the Danube where no sandbanks are to be found, 
and from the great resistance offered by the rapids in 
some parts of the river to a vessel drawn by horses or by 
men against the current. The latter difficulty will speedily 
disappear before the power of the steam-engine ; but we shall 
have occasion more than once in the course of this narra- 
tive to observe, that the two former obstacles still serve to 
postpone the satisfactory accomplishment of this most use- 
ful enterprise. 

I am led, however, to believe, that, by the application of 
science and capital, the two main impediments to the 
steam navigation of the Danube may be finally removed ; 
and in that case, it would be important to calculate the 
great advantages which the success of this project would 
confer, in a commercial point of view, upon Hungary. 
Any common map of that country shows that it is inter- 
sected in almost every direction, by rivers, most of which 
are either navigable, or easy to be rendered so ; and that 
there is scarcely one of them which does not communicate 
with the Danube. Thus the Theiss, an important river 
which rises in the Carpathian Mountains, after winding in 
a most singular manner through the northern counties of 
Hungary, as if it were designedly traced with a view to 
afford to each the greatest possible degree of convenience, 
takes a southern course for many leagues, nearly parallel 
to the Danube, receiving on the way the waters of several 
large tributaries, which pour down from the mountains of 
Transylvania, and eventually falls into that river about 
midway between Peterwardein and Belgrade. The Theiss 
is connected with the Danube by the canal of the Emperor 
Francis, which was finished in 1801, and which proceeds 



INTERNAL TRADE. 23 

from the latter a little below Mohacs, and enters the former 
at Foldvar, a distance of about sixty -two English miles. 
It has been proposed to unite these two rivers higher up by 
a canal, which should pass direct from Pesth to Szolnok. 
A survey has been made for this purpose, which proved 
highly favourable, both as to the levels, and the supply oi 
water. The Theiss, therefore, is at present in communi- 
cation through the Danube, with the Drave and Save; 
through the latter and the Culpa river, a boat might pro- 
ceed from the northeastern part of Hungary to Fiume, on 
the Adriatic, or, following the Save, it might reach Leibach 
and Trieste. 

Schwartner has collected some important facts relative 
to the facilities which exist in Hungary, for raising that king- 
dom to great commercial importance. From Pesth, as a 
centre, various lines of communication radiate towards 
Austria, Moravia, and Moravian Silesia, Galicia, Transyl- 
vania, Turkey, Croatia, Trieste, and Fiume. The town 
of Debretzin is the central point to the east. Carlstadt is 
the most active trading place in Croatia, and is essential 
to the communication between Hungary and the Adriatic. 
In all the different stations upon these commercial roads, 
there are merchants established, who buy goods wholesale, 
and reserving a certain quantity for the consumption of 
their neighbourhood, transmit the remainder to other parts 
of the country. 

A considerable internal commerce already exists in the 
interior of Hungary, in consequence of the great differ- 
ence existing between its northern and southern climates, 
and the great variety of its produce. Very little iron is to 
be found in the mountain, which is also the mining district. 
There are no vineyards above Kaschau, no tobacco fields 
beyond Gomor, no fruit trees beyond the foot of the Kri- 
vans. In the great plains of Cumania and Jazyga, which 
are in the middle of Hungary, there is a want of iron, stone, 
fuel, timber, salt, grain, manufactured goods, and even of 
the articles fabricated by the ordinary handicraft trades. 
Pesth, which has risen almost from insignificance within 
the last fifty years, has little to supply its great and in- 
creasing consumption, except what it receives from the 
northern and southern districts. Before Pesth assumed 
its present attitude of importance, Debretzin was the great 
emporium of Hungary. The distance of the latter from 
the Theiss, and the advantageous situation of the former 
upon the Danube, together with its fair every quarter, at 
which commercial transactions are carried on to as great 
an extent as at any of the similar assemblages in Germa- 



84 INTERNAL TRADE. 

ny, promise to render it, in a few years, one of the most 
prosperous cities upon the continent. 

"It is to be lamented," observes Schwartner. "that the 
navigation in the ascent of the Danube is so difficult; that 
in the Theiss, which flows with a more moderate stream, 
the returning- navigation is prevented beyond Segedin, on 
account of the low and marshy land by which it is sur 
rounded, preventing the use of horses in drawing the ves- 
sels ; that the river Gran (which falls into the Danube a 
little above Pesth) is only navigable at particular seasons 
of the year, and that the Wagh (which enters the Danube 
midway between Pesth and Prcsburg) cannot be navigated 
against the stream." It is obvious that the steamboat will 
remedy most of the evils of which Schwartner here com- 
plains. 

The trade upon the canal of the Emperor Francis, ac- 
cording to an official report, consists chiefly in wheat, 
wheat and rye mixed, maize, millet, barley, oats, wine, 
salt, copper and silver, wood and timber, stone for build- 
ings and mill-stones, lime, coal and pitch, tobacco, house- 
hold furniture, hides, galls and bark for tanning, meal, 
fruit, provisions, and glass. 

" The trade," says Schwartner, u from the south towards 
the north of Hungary, is attended with heavy charges, 
because it must be chiefly conducted by land-carriage ; 
and the roads in the north are mountainous, or so badly 
kept, that at many seasons they are almost impassable. 
AH merchandise passes through the country with freedom, 
going from one county to another without any examina- 
tion, and none are stopped but the goods oftho.se who are 
not ableto pay tolls, which in any case are but small. The 
regulation of the inns is bad. On the cross roads, where 
Jews usually undertake the entertainment of the traveller, 
there is care taken neither of man nor boast : on the main 
roads, almost all the innkeepers and their servants are 
foreigners from Austria or Bayreuth; and these exorbitant 
landlords exercise, in a most unmerciful manner, the right 
which they have, but which is denied to the King, of taxing 
the noble and the peasant in an equally arbitrary manner. 
Hence it is not wonderful if we see the common merchant, 
more particularly the Servian, prefer taking up his night's 
quarters in the open air. Travelling frequenters of the mar- 
kets, to whom the roads often owe both their safety and their 
cheerfulness, are met in every part and at every season ; for 
there is nothing more remarkable in the internal trade of Hun- 
gary, than the number of merchants and tradesmen, retail 
dealers, hawkers, pedlers, and handicraftsmen, going from 
market to market, and frequenting the numerous fairs, 



MANUFACTURES. 25 

which amount to above two thousand in the year. No mode- 
rate village is without a Greek or Jew merchant; and partic- 
ularly in the south of Hungary, all the internal, as well as 
the foreign trade, is in the hands of the Jews, Greeks, and 
Armenians, so that a Hungarian or a German can seldom 
hope to engage in profitable mercantile dealings, and the 
number uf the Jewish traders is daily increasing in every 
branch, both of wholesale and retail trade. All the fairs, 
except a few great cattle markets, some of which take 
place at the towns near the frontiers, and the great mar- 
kets ofPesth, Debretzin, and Eszek, are almost exclusively 
confined to dealings in articles of internal produce or con- 
sumption. These were formerly held upon the Sabbath, 
till Maria Theresa transferred them to some week-day. 
The want of large towns, their irregular distribution, the dif- 
ficulty of communication and intercourse before the post 
was understood, and ignorance of the method of doing 
business by commission, may be the causes of the numer- 
ous applications for market privileges granted since the 
twelfth century by the kings of Hungary, which, as trade 
becomes really great and prosperous, must fall into dis- 
use." 

The manufactures of Hungary are very limited, consist- 
ing chiefly of coarse linen, cotton, an indifferent kind of 
paper, spirit which is produced from grain, plums, or other 
fruits, and oil which is obtained from linseed, the seeds of 
the rape, the poppy, and sunflower. Tobacco and snuff 
are produced in great abundance. At iEdenburg and 
Fiume, sugar refineries are established. The manufacture 
of cloths and woollen stuffs has made no great progress as 
yet in Hungary ; flannels are made in Stuhlweissenburgand 
many parts of the Zips, and heavy water-proof cloth for 
cloaks, as well as other coarse articles, are woven by the 
Cfroatians and Sclavonians. Attempts have been made to 
grow and manufacture silk at Gross wardein, Presburg, 
Altofen, Pesth, and other places, but hitherto without suc- 
cess. 

The articles fabricated in gold and silver are not suffi- 
cient to supply the home consumption. Iron is produced 
rn considerable quantities in Gomor, Zips, and Liptau; the 
steel of Dios-Gyor is excellent; nevertheless, the chief sup- 
plies of these articles are furnished by Vienna and Styria. 
Several manufactories of common glass and pottery are 
distributed through the country. Debretzin is famous for 
its tobacco pipe heads. Holitsch is highly esteemed for its 
earthenware, but here terminates the list of Hungarian 
manufactures. The principal resources of that country 
are to be found in her mines, her vineyards, her harvests, 
22* 3 



26 PRODUCE. 

and her flocks, and these are so abundant that she needs 
but greater facilities for exportation, to become one of the 
richest states in Europe. 

According to Schwartner, the annual vintage of Hunga- 
ry may be estimated at eighteen millions of eimers. The 
principal vineyards are those of Syrmien, Buda, Pesth, 
Tokay, and Grosswardein. Its produce in grain, exclusive 
of Indian corn and rice, is said to amount to 60,000,000 
Presburg metzen.* Its improved sheep are calculated at 
6,000,000, its unimproved at 4,000,000, the whole of which 
are constantly feeding in the country, and yield large an 
nual returns to their proprietors. Extensive droves ol 
horned cattle and swine are sold in all the fairs and mar 
kets. 

Sulphur has been procured in many parts of Hungary, 
from copper pyrites. Traces also of coal are scattered 
throughout the country, but the veins hitherto discovered 
are of no great value. Peat also abounds in Hungary 
salt is found there in the greatest profusion, as well as con 
siderable quantities of soda, saltpetre, and alum. From 
my cogitations on these subjects, I was summoned at one 
o'clock to dinner. 



CHAPTER III 



Dinner— Wines— Languages of the Party— Plains of Hungary— English Groom- 
State of the neighbourhood of Tolna— -System of land-owners— English farmers 
in requisition — Arrival at Tolna— Battle with dogs— Search for a bod— Billiards — 
Cottage delights— Night scene— Hurgarian politics — Wood-boats— Produce— Vil- 
lage of Mohacs — Costume of the natives — Appearance of the streets— Industry 
of women— Hungarian ladies and their maids. 

We sat down, a large and merry party, to the table. I 
must honestly confess that I enjoy a good dinner at all 
times, and in all places, but I fancy that I entertain a par- 
ticular relish for the performance of my duties in that way 
on board a steamboat. The air, the exercise, the novelty 
of the scene, the emulation kindled amongst a number or 
candidates for a participation in the spoil, and, perhaps, 
above all, the savoury odours of soups and stews, which 
mingle beforehand with the atmosphere of the deck, con- 
spire to whet the appetite to a degree of keenness altogeth- 
er unknown on terra firma. 

We commenced operations with rice-soup, which was 

♦ A inetze is equal to about 1 C-S of a Winchester bushel 



WINES. 27 

followed of course by bouilli; next came sundry dishes of 
roast fowl, and of fowl cooked as giblets, and w^ell cook- 
ed too. By way of relaxation, we were then invited to ad- 
mit a layer of bread pudding upon the said fowls, with a 
view to prevent them from finding fault with what was to 
come after — a prudent measure ! The dinner w T as closed by 
capon, served up with plums in their own syrup for sauce. 
Upon the whole, notwithstanding the monotony of the en- 
tertainment, it went off, as the theatrical critics say, with 
eclat. We were not, however, fortunate in our wine : it 
was pale and sour; a degree ortw T o beneath small beer. — 
Hungary produces some of the most exquisite wines in Eu- 
rope, but I must say that I never had the felicity to meet 
with them. Those which are found in ordinary use are 
truly detestable. 

The vineyards of Hungary are chiefly in the hands of 
the peasants, who attend "much more to the quantity than 
the quality of their produce. Hence the wine commonly 
used in Hungary, generally a white wine, faintly coloured 
from the mixture of grapes of every kind, is, to a foreigner, 
and especially to an Englishman who sets a value upon 
Madeira, sherry, and port, altogether undrinkable. The 
country, however, round the town of Tokay is justly cele- 
brated for its vintage. It extends over a space of about 
twenty English miles. The grapes are permitted to remain 
on the trees until they become dry and sweet; they are 
then gathered carefully, one by one, and are collected in a 
cask, the bottom of which is pierced with holes, to let that 
portion of the juice escape, which will run from them with- 
out any pressure, and which, under the name of Tokay 
essence, is very highly prized. The grapes are next put 
into a vat, and trampled with the bare feet, but not heavily. 
To the expressed liquor is added an equal quantity of good 
wine, which is allowed to stand for twenty-four hours, and 
is then strained. The juice thus obtained becomes the well- 
known wine of Tokay, which sells at Vienna at the rate of 
£12 per dozen, and even at that price is difficult to be pro- 
cured. The Tokay vineyards chiefly belong to the Empe- 
ror, though some of them are the property of Hungarian 
nobles. 

The Meneser wine is by some judges said to be equal to 
Tokay. The secondary wines are those of CEdenburgh, 
Rusth, St. Gyorgy, and Ofen. The vine is understood to 
have been originally introduced into Hungary by the Em- 
peror Probus, in the fourth century. It was first planted 
at Sirmien, which was the principal scene of its prosperity 
until after the fatal battle of Mohacs, when the vineyards in 
that quarter were neglected. Those of Tokay were known 



28 LANGUAGES OF THE PARTY. 

in the thirteenth century, but they did not attain celebrity 
until after those of the south had fallen into neglect. Since 
the departure of the Turks, however, the Sirmien wines 
have again risen into reputation. Its red wine, or, as it is 
called, the Schiller wine, which is strong and sweet, is said 
to be excellent. 

As soon as the edge of appetite was a little blunted, we 
became not only a merry, but a noisy party. The Hunga- 
rian language prevailed by a considerable majority, but I 
happened to sit between a merchant from Trieste, who 
spoke a little English, and a medical gentleman from the 
Tyrol, who spoke French tolerably. The latter informed 
me that he had charge of the Tyrolese families on board, 
numbering, in all, nearly a hundred individuals, who were 
proceeding on their way to Transylvania, where they in- 
tended to settle, and work mines belonging to the Austrian 
government. 

My mercantile neighbour was bound to Peterwardein, 
whence he was to journey into the interior, for the purpose 
of purchasing corn, to be shipped for Trieste. I was the 
only Englishman in a party of about forty persons, and I 
soon found that I was an object of general attention. All 
wondered whither I was going — what were my pursuits — 
what had brought me so far from home; and when it be- 
came pretty well whispered about that I was on my way to 
Constantinople, where the plague was raging at that mo- 
ment, according to a thousand reports, in a most formida- 
ble manner, I became not only an object of attention, but 
of sympathy. As I was altogether unacquainted with the 
Hungarian language, and my Hungarian friends knew no 
other except Latin, I was obliged to turn out fiom the re- 
cesses of my memory all that still remained there of Lilly 
and Erasmus, in order to answer the questions that were 
put to me. We were consequently all speedily arranged 
upon a footing of agreeable intercourse, the ladies and my- 
self only excepted; for, very much to my chagrin, they 
spoke no dialect save their own Hungarian. t Even the lit- 
tle elegant countess was ignorant of "French and Italian ; 
but I afterwards found that the education of the fair sex in 
Hungary had been, hitherto at least, wholly neglected. 

I was much pleased with my new companions. They 
exhibited towards each other, and towards myself, so much 
good-nature; they were so frank in their discourse, so 
cheerful, so full of anecdote, so easily provoked to laugh- 
ter, in which they indulged with all the heartiness of chil- 
dren, that T felt the greatest interest in poring over this new 
page of the volume of society. Even when I did not un- 
derstand the language in which their conversation was car- 



HUNGARIAN PLAINS. 29 

ried on, I could collect its general meaning from the tone, 
the look, the animated gestures, by which it was accom- 
panied. After coffee, our "house" adjourned. 

3oon after leaving Pesth we passed the large island of 
Ratoykovi, which is the property, I understand, of the Duke 
of Saxe-Teschen. It is sprinkled with villages which, at a 
distance, looked neat and prosperous, as if they had the 
good fortune, which I believe to be the case, of enjoying 
the protection of a beneficent landlord. The woods on the 
island are luxuriant and picturesque. Beyond the island, 
on the right, is the market village of Adony, chiefly con- 
sisting of thatched cottages. From Adony to I^oldvar, the 
country appears to be one of those extensive and apparent- 
ly measureless plains which abound in Hungary, and which 
in some places resemble the downs of Wiltshire, while in 
others they are sandy tracts, not incapable, however, of 
cultivation. The plain upon our right was aflat open pas- 
ture, and is said to afford a fair picture of the country call- 
ed the Banat, that stretches eastward from the river Theiss. 
Here were feeding large flocks of sheep and droves of oxen, 
attended by herdsmen, who usually lay on the ground, 
wrapped in their thick woollen cloaks, their donkeys, on 
which they followed their flocks, grazing by their side. 

Rohrer calculated, in 1808, that in the kingdom of Hun- 
gary, including Sclavonia and Croatia, out of a territorial 
extent of 4.097 Austrian square miles, a space equal to 543 
square miles might be said to be undivided common, yield- 
ing only a scanty herbage to flocks and herds, numerous 
certainly, but insignificant when compared with the much 
greater numbers which might be sustained on the same 
lands, if they were put under the plough or converted into 
good pasture. ^No material change appears as yet to have 
taken place in Hungary in this respect, owing to the defi- 
ciency in the population, the want of good roads and water 
conveyance, the difficulty of obtaining good markets, and 
the unfortunate ^)ut almost universal propensity of the in 
habitants to indolence. These obstacles to Hungarian im 
provement wiJi disappear in due season, should the steam 
navigation of the Danube be successful. 

Below Foldvar a vast extent of corn-land appeared, the 
property of the Count Batthyani. Vineyards rose on eve- 
ry side, separated by hedges, which are decorated in the 
summer by the blossoms of the lilac and the barberry. 
Beyond Packs the soil seems chiefly appropriated to to- 
bacco, except where it is invaded by the drifting sands 
which, wherever they make their approach, turn the plain 
into a desert. 

The engineer of our steamboat, a skilful, active, good- 



30 ENGLISH GROOM. 

humoured young man, from Birmingham, named Pearce, 
made my acquaintance in the course of the evening, and 
pointed out to me, among the crowd before the mast, 
another Englishman, near whom was sitting a very pretty 
German young woman, whom he had just brought from 
Vienna as his wife. I went forward and spoke to this 
man, whom I found remarkably intelligent for his station. 
He was on his way home, his ho.ne for the present being 
the town, or rather the large village of Tolna, where we 
were likely to arrive about sunset. He had lived for some 
time with the Count Tedische, an Hungarian nobleman of 
extensive possessions in that part of the country, who, like 
most of his "order," made a point of having an English 
groom to take care of his stud. From this post, however, 
the newly married exile was about to be elevated to the 
rank of the count's bailiff, or steward. The account which 
he gave me of the state of the district in which he lived, 
was not much calculated to encourage emigration thither 
from England. 

"In former times," said he, and I give very nearly his 
own words, "it was the custom for the emperor to give a 
title of nobility to every person who in battle killed his 
man. These titles unfortunately became hereditary; the 
consequence of which is. th »t every second man 

you meet in Hungary is either really noble or affects to be 
so. The great mass of this kind of aristocracy are wretch- 
edly poor." They are too proud to work, and having no 
property, they live by plunder.* They go. sir— you coming 
fresh from England will hardly believe it— these fellows go 
in the noonday to the field of Indian corn, the best they can 
find in the neighbourhood, with horses and wagons, which 
they have begged or seized for their purpose ; they cut 
down as much of the corn as they pleaie, and then carry 
it away openly, as if it had been the regular produce of 
their own industry j the poor farmer locking on all the 
time, perhaps, from a distance, afraid even to" be seen, for 
it would be as much as his life is worth to offer the slight- 
est resistance to their proceedings ! For thi> robbery t; 
is no redress. This is not all. These marauders choose 
to fall out with a man — they do so easily enough, for they 
are dreadfully quarrelsome — they attack him, and kill 
him. For such a crime there is no punishment : whereas 
if one of themselves happen to be killed in the fray, they 
obtain redress immediately. They give themselves the 
name of Edelmen, which seems to be a passport, of impu- 
nity for every species of wickedness. 

* It will be observed, lhat this description applies only to thole 
order of anstocrauc paupers. 



SYSTEM OP LANDOWNERS. 31 

u These Edelmen are in some degree imitated by a still 
more desperate set of vagabonds, who prowl in bands all 
over the country. Six or seven of these ruffians come 
into your house of a night, and live upon you as long as 
it may suit their convenience. If you do not receive them 
hospitably as guests, give them abundance to eat, drink 
with them, talk with them, and make them welcome in 
every way, they will most probably, after consuming all 
your store of provisions, beat you to a mummy before they 
go. They then elude pursuit by hiding in the woods. 

"I must admit, at the same time, that the Hungarians 
who do not belong to either of these two classes of plun- 
derers, are in general a very good sort of people, as the 
world goes. To be sure, they will cheat in bargaining if 
they can ; but in other respects they are friendly, good- 
natured, and trustworthy. They are for the most part en- 
gaged in agriculture. The system of the landowner is this : 
He sends round the neighbourhood, by beat of drum, to 
proclaim that he has a certain portion of land to let. The 
peasants who are willing to take this land in shares, enter 
into an agreement to that effect ; they cultivate their tene- 
ments, and deposite the produce in the landlord's granary : 
each tenant is entitled to half the produce of his labour. 
Upon the same plan all agricultural work is done. Those 
who thrash or tread out the corn, for instance, receive a 
fifth in kind. The clergy have, for the most part, portions 
of land settled on themselves, but tithes are still payable in 
some places to the landlord. 

" This simple custom works generally very w r ell — indeed 
I do not know how it could be altered, seeing that there is 
so little money current in any part of Hungary. At the 
same time. I believe the landowners in general, and the 
count in particular, would be extremely glad to get over 
some English farmers here, if such a thing was possible, 
which I think it is not, for few of my countrymen would 
long endure the Edelmen. As for myself, I have at present 
very little land, though I hope to have more. I am now 
getting used to the thing, and begin to bear it with some 
degree of indifference ; but I assure you, sir, if I had a 
livelihood in old England, I should be very glad to be back 
there again. To be sure, lam looked up to at Tolna by 
my neighbours, and respected by the count's friends, on 
account of the great success which his horses generally 
meet with at our races — for we have, I assure you, very 
fair meetings of that kind, which have tended very much 
to improve the breed throughout the country." 

My intelligent informant's discourse was here broken 
off, as we had just arrived (half-past six o'clock) xit Tolna, 



Sd ARRIVAL AT TOLNA. 

where we cast anchor for the night. The idea of stopping 
here until the morning was to me incomprehensible, as the 
moon, though on the wane, would soon in this climate 
turn the night almost into day. But the sandbanks! — at 
that awful sound the captain shook his head, and so we 
had no alternative. No chart of the river had yet been 
engraved ;* but it was understood that one was in progress, 
of which future passengers might profit perhaps. Our fate 
was sealed against the slightest chance of any thing like a 
nocturnal expedition. 

" Well, at all events," thought I, "I shall go into the vil- 
lage, and find a bed, if such a thing there be;" for I would 
have gladly avoided, if I could, the necessity of "roughing 
it" on a bench in the cabin. Accordingly, after all the 
passengers who were bound for Tolna had landed, to- 
gether with nearly the whole of our Tyrolese, men, women, 
and children, I stepped onshore, having been recommend- 
ed by the "bailiff" to put up at the "Black Eagle." As 
he was necessarily engaged himself in debarking some 
furniture for his new house, he called a sprightly lad of his 
acquaintance from amidst a group on the bank, and direct- 
ed him to marshal me the way to the inn. This lad not 
only came himself, but brought with him a whole "tail" of 
his companions, some of whom ran before, some beside, 
others behind me, along the sandy pathway leading to the 
village, which was nearly a mile distant. It was rather 
fortunate that I had this posse commitatus in my service, 
as, upon approaching the " Black Eagle," we were met 
by such a numerous troop of fierce dogs, which seemed to 
have assembled from all parts of Tolna, as if to dispute 
our entrance, that we were obliged to come to a regular 
engagement. Victory having declared on our side, we 
proceeded onward until we arrived at the inn gate, where 
my escort disappeared in an instant, scampering off in ail 
directions, as the dogs were rapidly rallying once more 
for action, barking as if they meant to assail even the 
"Black Eagle" itself. I took good care to close the gate 
after me, and directed my steps at once to the kitchen, 
where a prodigal fire was blazing, and the landlady, as 
well as her whole household, were Tunning about in an in- 
describable hurry. 

Upon presenting myself to the presidentessof the "Black 
Eagle," I signified to her, as well as I could, that I wanted 
a bed ; but she was so entirely pre-occupied in cutting up 
a quarter of a calf for a variety of parties who were clam- 
ouring for supper, she had so many orders to give hej? 

* I afterwards learned that the new chart of the Danube will be sooa 
f ublisbed at Vienna. 



SEARCH FOR A BED. 33 

maids, and had so many pots and pans stewing on the 
hearth, that after repeated exertions, I gave up the toil of 
soliciting her attention. I stepped forth, therefore, upon 
an expedition of discovery for myself, resolved, if I could 
find a chamber disengaged, to establish my proper person 
therein, without further ceremony. My first attempt was 
rather unfortunate; for on opening the door, I happened 
to light upon a woman just stepping into bed, her husband 
being about half way towards the same enviable destina- 
tion. My second effort was not more successful ; for the 
room I opened was apparently a receptacle for stores of 
every description — grapes, flour, oats, onions, casks of 
wine, hay, and broken chairs. Courageously persevering 
in my tour of the house, I next found myself in the pres- 
ence of a nurse and three or four children, all of whom 
were strenuously engaged in the duty of squalling as loud 
as they could. Finding, upon a further examination, that 
1 had no chance of attaining my object I resolved to wait 
awhile until the business of supper was over, w T hen 1 thought 
madam might be able to think of me for a moment; but, 
on entering the public room, I had the gratification to ob- 
serve that it was full of the Tyrolese families, who, having 
procured some milk, were distributing it with paternal and 
maternal assiduity among their infant generations. Some 
of the men were drinking wine, some were eating supper, 
others were trying to sleep on a table, or on the floor, 
amidst the cries of children, the scolding of mothers, songs, 
shouting, dancing, and other peaceable amusements. 

Not yet despairing of fortune, I proceeded to a neigh 
bouring apartment, which turned out to be a billiard-room, 
crowded with Austrian officers, who were playing at bil- 
liards, or standing round the table enveloped in an atmo- 
sphere of vapour arising from Hungarian tobacco — the 
most potent, and to a non-smoker the most offensive, I 
believe, that has yet been manufactured. Not being in a 
mood for suffocation, I speedily effected my escape, and 
had the consolation to behold myself once more in the 
yard of the "Black Eagle," in one corner of wirich a butch- 
er w r as engaged in skinning a newly killed sheep by the 
light of a lamp, which a swarthy peasant, in an immense 
hat and a blanket cloak, was holding up for him. Having 
at length very reluctantly resolved that my expedition w T as 
an entire failure, hearing no more of the dogs, and pre- 
suming that they were by this time all asleep. I set out 
upon my return to the steamboat. As I passed along 
through the village, I could not help looking in at a win 
dow where a light was glimmering; the room within was 
decently furnished, and a pretty young mother was play- 



34 HUNGARIAN POLITICS. 

ing with a baby in its nightclothes, before putting it to bed. 
The smiles of the little angel, and the exuberant joy of the 
parent, afforded a spectacle of perfect happiness, which 
made me forget my late disappointment, and I resumed 
my way in good-humour with all the world. 

The stars were shining in the blue ocean of the sky. 
The moon had just risen above the margin of the horizon 
between two of those beauteous worlds, and, though divest- 
ed of half her light, flung a long pathway of silver on the 
surface of the Danube. The Lyre was peculiarly brilliant, 
a constellation which I had many an hour admired and 
endeavoured to explore from my own garden at home, ac- 
companied by her who shares in all my thoughts and feel- 
ings. Though wandering alone in a foreign land, I thus 
found familiar friends everywhere in Nature around me. 
The silence of the scene, disturbed only now and then by 
the bark of a village cur; the low soothing murmur of the 
broad river ; the recollections which its celebrated name 
kindled in my memory, detained me loitering on the shore, 
until a chorus, sung by a group of Tyrolese, who were re- 
turning to our vessel, reminded me that it was time to fol- 
low their example. 

Finding my companions at supper, I was very glad to 
join them. They were in the midst of Hungarian politics, 
two of them being deputies on their way home from the 
Diet. 1 have seldom met a more engaging person than the 

Count P . who appeared to have taken an active part 

in the business of the legislature. He was inexhaustible in 
anecdotes about his fellow-deputies, and the mode in which 
the national affairs were carried on. Eloquent, cheerful, 
off-hand, and thoroughly conversant with human nature, 
he often placed the most serious things in a ridiculous 
point of view, which kept the table in roars of laugh- 
ter. His features beamed with benevolence, and I was not 
surprised afterwards to learn, that in his own county of 
Presburg, where he has ample possessions, he is universally 
beloved. He had frequently the goodness to explain to 
me in Latin, the political parts of his conversation. He 
said that the diet was the mere image of what it ought to 
be according to the ancient constitution of the country. 
Many of the deputies were determined on eventually effect- 
ing a reform, but from motives of personal respect for the then 
reigning emperor, they would take no steps during his life- 
tinTe. Under a new sovereign, however, they would cer- 
tainly insist upon the restoration of the Hungarian consti- 
tution. 1 had, more than once, occasion to remark, that 
politics were by no means forbidden topics in this coun- 
try j they are, in fact, as freely spoken of as in France or 



TOBACCO. 35 

England. No notice is ever taken by the authorities, of 
this liberty of speech ; I have heard even the authorities 
themselves discuss public questions without the slightest 
reserve. The freedom thus generally enjoyed, must be 
founded not only on custom, which cannot be changed, but 
upon a sense of inherent strength with which it might be 
dangerous to tamper. 

Tolna, and a considerable part of the country round it, 
belong to the Count Fesletitz, who has a handsome house 
in the town, with the arms of his family, carved in stone, 
over the entrance, after the Spanish fashion. The town 
was formerly of some importance. In 1518, Louis II, sum- 
moned in it an assembly of the states. The inhabitants 
are chiefly Germans, whose time is occupied in the cultiva- 
tion of tobacco, said to be the finest produced in Hungary 
— by which I suppose is meant the strongest. It is perhaps 
for this reason preferred to that of Szegedin, Arad, and 
Debretzin. The Austrian government had formerly a mo- 
nopoly in the purchase of this article; that monopoly no 
longer exists in law; in practice, however, the government 
is the chief purchaser. It has large magazines here, as 
well as at Debretzin and Szeged en, in which the raw pro- 
duce is collected, and from which it is transmitted to the 
imperial manufactory at Haimburgh. It is there prepared 
in different ways, to suit the markets of Austria and the 
surrounding countries. Saffron is also grown in this dis- 
trict, but not in sufficient quantity to meet the consumption. 
The saffron of Austria, which is celebrated, is grown chief- 
ly about Ulm, Kirchberg, Wagram, Herzogenburg, and 
Ravelsback-; there is therefore no reason, so far as the cli- 
mate, at least, is concerned, why the neighbourhood of 
Tolna should yield so limited a quantity. 

We set off the next morning at half past four o'clock, 
and again passed by a number of those picturesque looking 
mills already mentioned. The bank on our right ran along 
the edge of a vast forest. I should have liked to sketch 
some peasants, who were waiting by the river side for a 
boat, to convey to one of the mills several sacks of wheat 
which they had brought to be ground. The morning being 
rather cold, they were wrapped up in their great cloaks, 
their large hats pressed low over their brows ; they were 
accompanied by two or three women, and near them were 
several wicker cars, which appear to be generally used in 
Hungary. A wood-boat, as it is called, was making its 
way down the river. It consists, in fact, of four boats, 
which are lashed together for the purpose of carrying the 
long timber that is found in great abundance and of pretty 
good quality in the neighbouring forest. Its cabin is a very 



36 MOHACS. 

frugal affair, being composed only of half a dozen boards 
raised near the prow in a slanting direction from side to 
side. Beneath this shade, the operations of cooking and 
sleeping went on. 

We passed, in the course of the da)', by several long 
straggling villages, near which I observed some apparently 
fine vineyards. Certainly the grapes with which our table 
was served, were among the most delicious I had ever 
tasted, and served to confirm my opinion that the inferi- 
ority of the Hungarian wine in general, is to be attributed 
to the mode in which it is manufactured. If the process 
were improved, and more attention bestowed upon the 
quality than upon the quantity produced, I have no doubt 
that the wines of Hungary would rival even those of Spain, 
which I take to be the best in Europe. 

At noon, we stopped at Mohacs to take in wood and 
coals. This latter valuable article is found at a short dis- 
tance in the interior of the country ; the coals are small 
and stony, but they form a strong fire when mingled with 
wood. The operation of getting them on board being a 
very tedious one, we all went on shore to take a stroll 
through the town. A large and highly respectable looking 
family were waiting in a handsome phaeton on the bank, 
for the Count P , who met them in the most affec- 
tionate manner. They were attended by a troop of" fol- 
lowers," as an Irishman would say, who kissed the count's 
hand, and seemed delighted to have him once more among 
them. A decent elderly woman, who must have been his 
nurse, wept for joy. She, and one or two fine youths, who 
seemed to be entitled to higher privileges, kissed not his 
hand, but his arm ! I looked on at this meeting with great 
interest, and when the carriage drove away with the count, 
I felt, under the impression that he was not to return, as if 
I had lost a friend whom I had long known. 

The bank was soon crowded with groups of peasantry, 
men and women, extremely well-looking, who had assem- 
bled chiefly to gaze on the wonders of the steamboat. The 
former were loosely clothed in shirts, waistcoats, and loose 
trousers, all made of coarse canvass. The trousers were 
so wide, that, at a distance, they looked like petticoats. Their 
hats were of the usual Hungarian dimensions, and they 
generally wore sandals without stockings. The head- 
dress of the women consisted, for the most part, simply of a 
blue handkerchief, which was tied under the chin. They 
wore neither stockings nor sandals. Their gowns were of 
ordinary calico, blue, red, green, plainly printed ; I presume 
of German manufacture. Some twenty of these women, 
the younger of whom were decorated with a profusion of 



4 



INDUSTRY OF WOMEN. 37 

different coloured necklaces of glass or coral beads, were 
seated in a semicircle, selling fruit. Their baskets were 
heaped with walnuts, magnificent grapes, and apples. A 
wicker car was also speedily in attendance, laden with 
some of the finest melons and plums I ever saw. The lat- 
ter was of a deep red colour, and of the most tempting 
ripeness. When the Tyrolese began to market with these 
fruit-venders, an artist might have found in the scene a pic- 
turesque variety of character and costume. 

Though the Hungarians call Mohacs a town, I should 
rather say that it is a large village, built with the most rus- 
tic simplicity. The houses generally consist of mud walls, 
roofed with long reeds, each being surrounded by a higti 
wicker fence, which encloses a considerable space of 
ground, including a farmyard, a well, with the primitive 
lever for raising the bucket, and sometimes a garden. 
Rows of these detached houses form several irregular 
streets, which are planted with shady trees on each side. 
Cocks were crowing in all directions, otherwise one would 
scarcely have thought that the place had been inhabited, 
such was the silence that prevailed. Even the dogs were 
mute, sleeping through the noonday heat. The gable ends 
of the cottages generally faced the street, the roof being 
carried a foot or two beyond the walls, on which, or upon 
the window-sills, were strung in the sun quantities of a rich- 
looking green and ruby fruit, here called the golden apple, 
and resembling our girkin in form. It is preserved for 
pickling, is full of seeds, and, even before being pickled, is 
not disagreeable to the taste. I tried to get into the two 
churches which belong to the village, but they were locked. 
Their external appearance was decent. 

The coals and wood were carried to our boat in wheel- 
barrows, by a number of muscular, active, hard working 
girls ; hundreds of men were loitering on the bank, not one of 
whom could be prevailed upon to assistinthelabour, through 
sheer laziness. We were consequently detained more than 
three hours, by an operation which ought to have been com- 
pleted within less than half the time, as the depot was with- 
in twenty yards of the river. For their industry on this 
occasion, these poor girls, who went through the work with 
indefatigable cheerfulness, received only portions of flax, 
respectively equivalent to about two or three pence of our 
money. 

While these girls were engaged in their task, the first 
crowd of spectators gradually dispersed, and left the scene 
open to some more respectable groups, who came to gratify 
their curiosity. Several young ladies appeared in their 
hair, which was tastefully arranged, protected from the sun 
23* 4 



6b BATTLE OF MOHACS. 

by parasols, and in other respects attired in the English 
style They were attended by their maids, who also display- 
ed their ringlets, and but for the smart white aprons oy which 
they were distinguished, might have been mistaken for 
their mistresses. These attractions had the usual effect of 
summoning also to the general rendezvous, the beaux of 
the neighbourhood, who were, for the most part, apparel- 
led in black velvet vests, and white trousers : a short white 
woollen cloak, decorated at the collar with red worsted 
lace, and conspicuously exhibiting a red cross in front, be- 
ing carelessly thrown over the left shoulder. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Battle of Mohaca— Hungarian Power — Solyman — Defeat of the Hungarians — Steam- 
boat aground— Tyrolese melodies— Night scene — " Hanger on"— Auction at 
cards— " Knave of clubs" game — How to float a steamer— Military valet— Ka* 
menitz— Odescalchi convent— Parting game — Kissing— Nousatz— Cariovitz--Sem- 
lin— Greek church — Plague at Constantinople— Belgrade — Semendria — Magnifi- 
cent expanse of the Danube — Islands of enchantment— Sunset — Spirits of the 
Danube. 

Insignificant as Mohacs now appears to be, it was once 
the scene of an important battle between the Hunga- 
rians and the Turks. Solyman the "Magnificent." as he 
is deservedly styled on account of his zealous and well- 
directed attention to the improvement and embellishment 
of his empire, succeeded his father Selymus on the Otto- 
man throne in the year 1520. After quelling an insurrection 
in Syria, and establishing his power in Egypt, he resolved 
to turn his arms against the Christian nations. His great- 
grandfather had attempted, without success, to obtain pos- 
session of Belgrade, a city in which were deposited most 
of the trophies taken by the Hungarians in their wars with 
the Turks, and which, therefore, in the estimation of the 
followers of the Prophet, it became a sacred duty to con- 
quer. The sultan, having rapidly moved his army towards 
the frontiers, arrived in Servia before the Hungarians were 
even aware of his approach. 

At this period the Hungarian power had greatly declined. 
The throne was occupied by Louis II, a young and feeble 
sovereign, who had no means of raising an army sufficient 
to contend against his powerful and ambitious enemy. 
" His nobility," says the quaint historian Knolles, M in whose 
hands rested the wealth of his kingdom, promised much, 
but performed indeed nothing. Huniades, with his hardy 



HUNGARIAN POWER. 39 

soldiers, the scourge and terror of the Turks, were dead 
long before ; so also was Matthias, that fortunate warrior; 
after whom succeeded others given to all pleasure and 
ease, to whose example the people fashioning themselves, 
forgot their wonted valour." Belgrade fell almost without 
resistance. 

Solyman having gained his immediate object, broke up 
his army, returned to Constantinople, and employed him 
self in fitting out a fleet for the conquest of Rhodes, which 
he also effected towards the end of the year 1522. Having 
devoted the three following years to the organization of a 
large army, he resumed his designs against Hungary, ta- 
king advantage of the distractions which then prevailed in 
Europe in consequence of the war carried on in Italy by 
Francis I. against Charles V. The communications in 
those days between different countries must have been 
extremely imperfect, as it appears that before Louis had 
any knowledge of the intentions of Solyman, a Turkish 
army, numbering two hundred thousand men, had reached 
the borders of Hungary. The young monarch, upon learn- 
ing the peril to which his kingdom was exposed, addressed 
applications for assistance to most of the Christian prin- 
ces, but without success. He lost no time in summoning 
his prelates and nobles to his aid ; they obeyed the call with 
great readiness, so far as they were themselves concerned ; 
but the troops they brought with them into the field were 
ill-appointed and inexperienced. They had been accus- 
tomed to triumph over the Turks, and therefore treated 
the coming danger with a most imprudent contempt. To- 
moreus, especially, an archbishop, who had had a few light 
skirmishes with the Turks, boasted highly in his sermons 
to the army of his own prowess, and assured them of an 
easy victory. 

When the king's troops were mustered, they did not 
amount, on the whole, to more than twenty-live thousand 
men. horse and foot. Officers of experience in the service 
foresaw the result of a conflict which was about to be un- 
dertaken with such inadequate means, and recommended, 
at all events, that the person of the sovereign should not be 
put in peril. It was suggested that he should retire to the 
castle of Buda. But to this proceeding the army objected, 
and declared that unless they were led by their sovereign 
they would not fight. This w T as also in accordance with 
the opinion of Tomoreus. Whereupon, the king set for- 
ward with his army, and encamped'at Mohacs, at a short 
distance from the Turkish vanguard. 

A body of Transylvanian horseman having been expect- 
ed to join the king, it was debated whether he should not 



40 DEFEAT OF THE HUNGARIANS. 

defer giving battle until the arrival of a force so essential 
to his support against the enemy. The impetuosity of the 
archbishop, however, unfortunately swayed the councils 
of the day, and preparations were made for the encounter. 

The vanguard of the Turks consisted of twenty thou- 
sand cavalry, which being divided into four squadrons, 
harassed the king's troops by skirmishes, continued 
throughout the night, as well as the day. So closely were 
they watched, that no man could attempt, without danger, 
to water his horse at the side of the Danube. They were 
compelled to obtain that indispensable element by digging 
pits in their camp. In the mean time Solyman arrived at 
Mohacs with the main body of his army. Tomoreus ar- 
ranged the order of battle. He stationed the horsemen in 
companies at intervals amongst the infantry, fearing that 
the Turks might encompass his line, unless it were extend- 
ed as far as possible. A small force was left to defend the 
tents, which were surrounded with wagons chained to- 
gether; and near them a chosen body of cavalry was 
placed in reserve, in order to shield the king's person, in 
case any disastershould occur. 

It is said that the gunners employed on the Turkish side, 
being for the most part Christians, purposely pointed their 
artillery so high, that their fire was altogether harmless. 
Nevertheless, at the first onset, the Hungarians were com- 
pletely routed, so multitudinous was the mass which had 
rushed against them. Tomoreus, who, though a great 
boaster, was also a valiant soldier, fell among the first that 
were slain. His noble companions in arms displayed their 
usual gallantry, but perished in this unequal battle, one 
after another: and the horsemen having been speedily 
destroyed, or put into disorder, the camp remained open to 
the assault of the enemy. The garrison was too weak to 
make any defence; the troops reserved for the protection 
of the king's person, consequently hastened to their aid. 
Louis, beholding his army overthrown, and finding himself 
thus forsaken by his guard, took flight. Unacquainted 
with the country, he directed his horse into a deep marsh ; 
the animal, endeavouring to extricate itself, plunged vio- 
lently, and fell backwards. The king, loaded with heavy 
armour, was thus buried in the marsh, where he was some 
time afterwards discovered and identified by one of his 
squires. Solyman continued his march triumphantly to 
Euda, but he soon after quitted Hungary, which became a 
prey to civil wars, the result of a disputed succession. 

We took our departure from Mohacs soon after three 
o'clock in the afternoon, having in the meanwhile dined 
on vermicelli soup, bouilli served up with beetroot, roast 



STEAMBOAT AGROUND. 41 

fowl presented on a couch of stewed cabbage, beefsteaks, 
boiled rice sweetened and browned before the fire, to- 
gether with roast capon, accompanied, as usual, by plum 

sa-uce. I was glad to see Count P once more in his 

place at the table. 

From the appearance of some fishing-boats, which I saw 
for the first time on the Danube, about two hours after we 
left Mohacs, I flattered myself with the hope that we began 
to enter the deepest part of the river, which, as it was now 
full a mile in width, w^as well entitled to be described as an 
inland sea. The banks, indeed, were still low and sandy, 
which detracted from its beauty. In the distance, on the 
right, a sugar-loafed mountain, rising above the summit of 
a range of hills, indicated an approaching change of scene- 
ry; we perceived the commencement of a forest on our 
left, lower down the river: but in other respects the coun- 
try around us was altogether uninteresting. While I was 
indulging in a day-dream upon the novelties I was about 
to encounter, a sudden shock, of no great violence, how- 
ever, warned us all that we were absolutely aground. The 
captain treated the accident with entire indifference, and 
it was not until he found that we were literally imbedded 
in the sand, that he even thought of despatching a man in 
the small boat, to sound the river on either side. We had 
the mortification to observe that in every part of the river, 
at the distance of a few feet from the steamer, there was 
an over-abundance of water, and that had we industriously 
sought for a sandbank on which to run the vessel, by no 
effort of skill could we have found it anywhere except on 
the very spot where we were now detained. Instead of 
making any immediate exertions to extricate the boat from 
this disagreeable situation, our captain walked up and down 
the deck for a while, looking vacantly around him, scarce- 
ly knowing what to do. An anchor was at length borne 
out to a distance and thrown into the river, with a slight 
rope attached to it, which was carried round the axle of the 
windlass. The men were then set to work with a view, by 
pulling at the anchor, to shift the boat from its unfortunate 
position ; but the rope was no sooner strained than it broke ; 
it w T as tied and broke again and again, until everybody 
saw that the cord was much too slender for the purpose. It 
was at length suggested that the only course which remained 
was to lighten the vessel of its cargo, when it would proba- 
bly float of itself; but as this was an operation that would 
occupy some hours, and the day had now nearly reached 
its close, we were obliged to content ourselves with remain- 
ing motionless for the night. 

The Tyrolese considerately resolved to console us all 
4* 



42 NIGHT SCENE. 

under our misfortune, by singing in concert some of their 
choicest national melodies. They had amongst them an 
admirable bass, and two or three excellent treble voices, 
which gave with great effect the leading stanzas ; the whole, 
men and women, joined in the chorus. It was a singular 
musical entertainment on the bosom of the broad Danube, 
and ought to have had the Alps to re-echo the songs of the 
hunter," and the wild tones of the shepherd, which lost some 
portion of their cheering influence by being flung along 
these quiet waters. We could not but perceive that the 
simple people mingled with the song feelings of remem- 
brance that they were already far from their native rnoun 
tains, to which they were not soon to return. 

The evening was beautiful. A warm golden tinge illu- 
mined the atmosphere all round the horizon ; while, in the 
transparent azure of the concave above, myriads of worlds 
were exulting in their light, visited now and then by me- 
teors, which passed like seraphic messengers from one re- 
gion of the heavens to another. The waning moon rose 
late, and so low in the firmament, that it seemed an appa- 
rition evoked by some enchantress from the waters around 
us. While I was contemplating this scene, my attention 
was disturbed by a tremendous fire which broke out sJ 
some distance beyond the forest on our left. A column o" 
dense smoke ascended in the sky, which, reflecting iht 
blaze below, seemed itself an unearthly conflagration, lr 
a little time the whole of the horizon in that direction ap 
peared to be in flames; we concluded that the fire, which 
had probably begun in some village, as U often the case in 
this country, had reached the forest. The flames were re- 
flected also in the Danube, and appeared to have threaten- 
ed more than common dangers in their course, as we heard, 
in the fir distance, the sound of horns spreading the alarm. 

In the cabin, however, we all assembled in our usual 
spirits. The Countess X was the object of marked at- 
tention on the part of the gentlemen, amongst whom. 1 
must confess, she distributed her smiles with laudable im- 
partiality. Her sparkling black eyes evinced no want of 
self-possession, nor could I perceive that she was much dis- 
tressed by her separation from her husband. The Count 

P was accompanied, on his return from Mohacs. by a 

kind of >k hanger on," a military man, poor, but merry, and 
though to the count habitually obsequious, a good-natured 
fellow. He spoke French fluently. In the course of seve- 
ral conversations which I had with this decayed gentle- 
man, who seemed to know something of the world, he fully 
confirmed all I had hitherto heard of the spirit of liberty 
which prevails generally amongst the Hungarians, and of 



"knave of clubs" game. 43 

their fixed determination to convert their diet into a real 
representation of the kingdom. The example of England, 
he said, was not unknown to his countrymen, who greatly 
admired her institutions. 

After supper we played at a round game called the 
"auction/ 5 The dealer held up a certain number of cards, 
taken indiscriminately from the pack, and sold them to the 
highest bidders. When the auction, which was conducted 
by Count P with infinite drollery, came to a conclu- 
sion, the produce was collected and divided into four or 
i?ve prizes, the first being the highest, and the others less- 
ening in proportion. The remainder of the pack was dis- 
tributed amongst the players. A second pack was then 
given to the dealer, who drew from it at hazard, without 
permitting anybody to see them, as many cards as there 
were prizes to be "contended for. These cards so drawn 
were placed separately on the table, and on the back of 
each a prize was deposited. He next proceeded to turn 
up, successively, the remainder of the second pack, com- 
paring each card as it appeared with those held by the 
players, who laid down a corresponding card, until the 
second pack was exhausted. Consequently there would at 
that period remain in their possession only the cards which 
corresponded with those under the prizes: these latter cards 
were finally displayed with due solemnity, and those who 
were the fortunate holders of similar ones won the prizes 
placed upon each. I have never seen a round game so 
productive as this was of interest, curiosity, and merri 
ment. 

Another laughter-stirring game is this. All the knaves, 
except the knave of clubs, are discharged from the pack. 
The cards are then dealt out to the party in hands of five 
each. If the party be not numerous enough to exhaust the 
pack at the first deal, then the hands are increased to eight 
vr ten, in order to accomplish that purpose. The player 
who holds two cards of the same class — for instance, two 
aces, or two queens — puts them away, but he is not entitled 
to get rid of more than two at a time. The leading hand, 
on the left of the dealer, if he hold two such cards, turns 
them up, and places them in the middle of the table; if he 
do not hold a pair, then the lead passes on to him who 
does. After losing these two cards, he then places the 
cards remaining in his hand on the table, back upwards. 
His neighbour next takes one card out of the hand so laid 
down, makes a pair, if he can, in order to reduce his hand 
in the same manner, and puts down the remainder. The 
third player follows the same course, and it is obvious, that 
as the company holds amongst them two pairs of all the 



44 MILITARY VALET. 

cards except the knaves, the knave of clubs must ultimate- 
ly fall to the lot of some unfortunate wight. He or she — 
for this game knows no distinction of sex — is then deco- 
rated with a black eye, or a pair of mustaches, by means 
of a burnt cork. This is a game not merely of fun, but of 
absolute riot ; for the operation of painting being usually 
resisted, the available force of the company is called out to 
carry the law into execution. 

At an early hour the following morning. f'iGth,) a large 
flat-bottomed boat was rowed alongside our steamer, and 
the crew, with the assistance of our Tyrolese, in a few hours 
transferred the greater part of the cargo from one vessel to 
the other. The steamer having been thus materially light- 
ened, rose from its bed in the sand, and floated into deeper 
water, where it was reloaded, and about one o'clock in the 
afternoon we resumed our voyage. While the removals 
of the cargo were going on, I observed that the cases in 
which it was contained were usually directed in the Latin 
language, in a style of which the follow ipecimeo 

11 Spcctabili ac Perillustrj Domino Fran< 

The scenery on either side of the river continued during 
the wholeofthe day, as uninteresting) bicfa we had 

already passed. The country on the lefl was still occu- 
pied by forests. On the right, I observed the ruins of an 
old fortification, of which a round t<»\ver and the principal 
castle remain. Here and there on the no- 

ticed villages built after the fashion of the Mohacs. Im- 
mense flights of wild ducks appeared from i me, 
but we found it impossible to of them, 
very much to the disappointment of a military a 
who was valet to the Tyi -ctor. This man was al- 
ways dressed in a hussar jacket and tight pantaloons, over 
which he wore Hessian boots, with enormous spurs at- 
tached to them. It was frmtifi m wait upon his 
master of a morning in this attire, with towel and basin in 
his hand, or perhaps a clean shirt, or perhaps a pestle and 
mortar to mix up some drugs. I have no doubt, such was 
the ludicrous military vanity of this fellow, that, of the two, 
he would much rather lose his place than his spurs, which, 
by the by, were perpetually tripping him up. He disdain- 
ed to mingle with the colonists, unless when he was com- 
missioned to administer a dose, a duty which he performed 
with very visible reluctance. 

During the evening, the deck before the mast seemed to 
have been turned into a barber's shop, the operator being 
one of the Tyrolese women, who went through her labours 
with suck admirable skill and expedition, thai even 



PARTING GAME. 45 

gentlemen availed themselves of her services. When this 
necessary office was over, prayers were said by the Tyrolese, 
who all assembled together for that purpose, after which an 
elderly matron sprinkled holy water amongst them. 

The towns of Vuckovar and Kamenitz, which we passed 
by without visiting, the following day (27th) appeared, at a 
distance on our right, to be of some importance. The 
former boasts of a fine convent for monks, and several 
churches, which, to us, at least, seemed more than usually 
handsome. Trees shaded the streets as usual Several 
boats laden with black earthenware were in its little port, 
and groups of girls were engaged at the river side in pro- 
curing supplies of water; they took it away in pitchers sus- 
E ended at the extremities of an elastic pole, which was 
alanced on the right shoulder. Wicker cars were busily 
driving in and out of the town, and in a field near it, a 
troop of cavalry were exercising their horses. 

Not far from Vuckovar, on an abrupt hill, which immedi 
ately overlooks the Danube, there is another monastery, 
said to have been erected by a prince of the house of 
Odeschalchi, an Italian family, whose wealth was, at one 
period of their career, supposed to be inexhaustible. The 
establishment belongs to the Franciscans, and appeared 
to be almost a town in itself. 

The country, as we approached Peterwardein, improved 
rapidly upon us. On our right, undulating hills, wooded 
with shrubs, villages prettily situated on the heights, their 
church spires rising above the trees, which no village is 
without, announced a more fertile, a more populous, and 
a more cultivated part of Hungary than we had seen since 
our departure from Pesth. I remained generally on deck, 
watching the variations of scenery which presented them- 
selves, as in a moving panorama. I did not fail, however, 
to mingle occasionally with my fellow-passengers, for 
whom the aspect of the country had not the same attrac- 
tions of novelty. I found the gentlemen, whenever I went 
down, almost constantly engaged at cards — and the la- 
dies knitting, or telling each others' fortunes on cards, or 
arranging them on the table in a diversity of figures, which 
requires no little ingenuity, the result of many a long idle 
hour's experience. 

I have no objection myself to a merry round game for 
an hour or so at night, or to a determined rubber or two o* 
whist at the same genial season ; but I have an invincible 
distaste for any such amusement, under any circumstances 
whatever, in the light of day. This my new friends soon 
found out, and they could not account for it, though I ex- 
plained it as an affair of habit. However, one auction 
24 



46 NAPOLI DI ROMANIA. 

game, they said, we must have before we separated, in 
which the whole cabin must be interested, and the first 
prize was to be accompanied by a license to the winner, if 
a gentleman, to kiss every lady on board. My gallantry 
was touched by this proposal, and, of course. I sat down 
at the table, upon which there was a general shout of tri- 
umph. 

The ladies joined in the game, as they said, for their own 
protection; but it was plain enough that none of them 
wished to win the first prize, though it was equally clear 
that they were anxious it should not fall to the lot of a huge 

Hungarian sergeant, whom Count P . for the drollery 

of the contrast between this man and the delicate countess, 
had purposely invited from before the mast, to participate 
in our contest. I need not say that great was the riv . 
at the auction, over which the count, as usual, {resided, so 
that the prices at which the cards were knocked down, 
went beyond all former example. 

In due course, the cards were drawn for the prizes, and 
placed under them — the ladies I heady preparing, by 

coquettish smiles, and transient blushes, and gentle palpi- 
tations, for the visitation they were about to ui At 
length the ominous card was called out, when lo ! to the 
mortification, most especially of the y yrolese doc- 
tor, and to the consternation of the pretty c . the ser- 
geant proved to be the happy man. Her lady-hip. with in 
imitable grace, allowed the cyclop to kiss her hand, with 
which he had the good taste to be contented ; but he had 
ample revenge, amidst peals of laughter, on a dry old 
maid, whom nobody would have kissed but hims 

We arrived at Neusatz, opposite Peterwardein, at two 
o'clock; and after dinner, at which we drank to each oth- 
er's health and happiness with fr f kindness, if not 
of friendship, whose evident sincerity and warmth showed 
that the moment of separation was not without pain on all 
sides, I found myself almost alone in the cabin. 

The boat having been detained for an hour at Xeusatz, I 
strolled through the town, which consists of long 
gling streets recently built, and full of shops, in which were 
soldT toys, grocery, clothes, censers, ironmongery, tin- 
ware, earthenware, wooden bowls, dishes, and trenchers, 
all of very rude fashion, and jewellery of an ordinary de- 
scription. I saw severed Greek priests here, in long cloth 
cassocks, shovel hats, and long beards. They were re- 
markably neat in their persons, and humble in their de- 
meanour. The principal church of the town had not mo 
to boast of, except a series of ensigns which were taken 
during the Austrian wars with Turkey. 



CARLOVii'Z — SEMLIN. 47 

Neusatz is connected by a bridge of boats with the 
more ancient town of Peterw r ardein, on the opposite bank 
of the Danube, which is defended by one of the strongest 
fortresses on the river. The works are erected on a 
lofty rock, naturally very difficult of access from the river, 
and protected on the land side by extensive bastions and 
towers, which exhibit a formidable appearance. The place 
was well garrisoned. 

Five of the boats which contributed to sustain the bridge 
having been disconnected at one end from the line, and 
suffered to yield to the force of the current, they gradually 
swung round, together with that portion of the bridge upon 
them, so as to afford an opening, through which we passed 
on our way down the river. Our cabin passengers were 
now reduced to four: a little humdrum widow, who never 
ceased to chatter, the Tyrolese doctor, a young surgeon 
who joined him from Neusatz, and myself. Carlovitz, a 
town prettily situated on the side of a hill, and celebrated 
for its wines, soon attracted observation on our right. 
The hills gradually increased in boldness as we proceeded, 
until night veiled them from our view, when we cast an- 
chor in the middle of the stream. The sky was overcast 
with clouds, threatening a disagreeable change of weather. 

About nine o'clock on the following morning, (2Sth,) the 
spires of Semlin appeared in view, and a little further 
down the river, the cupolas and minarets of Belgrade. 
The steamer having cast anchor before the former place, I 
immediately went ashore, and explored its curiosities. It 
being Sunday, the church bells were ringing in all direc- 
tions, and the market, which was well supplied with vege- 
tables and fruit, includinga peculiarly fine species of green 
watermelon, was thronged with people decked out in sev- 
eral varieties of holyday 'costume, Hungarian, Greek, Turk 
ish, and Armenian. 

After hearing mass in one of the Roman Catholic church- 
es, which was attended by a respectable, and, apparently, 
a very devout congregation, I went to the church belong- 
ing to the Greek Catholic form of worship. As usual in 
these edifices, it had no pews or seats of any description 
in the body of the church ; near the screen, behind which 
the altar was secluded, a few stalls were arranged on each 
side, not, however, for sitting, but for standing ; and a 
round platform was raised in the middle, I presume for the 
lecturer or preacher. The screen, a curious specimen of 
art of the middle ages, was elaborately carved and gilt, and 
ornamented with portraits of the saints, which were paint- 
ed in the old Venetian style. In the centre, there was a 
doorway, veiled by a curtain. Very few persons w r ere 



4B THE PLAGUE. 

present at the service, the greater part of which, according 
to the rites of the Greek church, was performed with mys- 
terious secrecy behind the screen ; at certain parts of the 
mass, the curtain was drawn aside, and the ceremonies 
were then witnessed by those in attendance. There was 
no organ, but a small and very indifferent choir sung, in 
the ancient Gregorian chant, those portions of the mass 
which are commonly set to music. 

Semlin being the frontier town of the Austrian domin- 
ions in that quarter, where travellers proceeding from Ser- 
via, or the interior of Turkey, are obliged to submit to a 
quarantine of fourteen days, I was anxious to hear the la- 
test intelligence concerning the plague, which, I was in- 
formed at Vienna, prevailed in Constantinople to a serious 
extent. With the assistance of our engineer, I soon found 
out a French agent, who acts as the interpreter of the gov- 
ernment; and from him I learned, with no small pain, 
that the plague continued to increase, that from eight hun 
dred to a thousand persons were swept away by it daily , 
and that among the most recent victims was Mr. Wood, 
an Englishman, who was dragoman to the British em- 
bassy. This fact excited some alarm in my mind, as I 
had been hitherto taught to believe that the Franks usually 
escaped the pestilence, either from their more cleanly 
habits, their more substantial diet, or from their residing 
in a more airy quarter of the capital. Before we left Sem- 
lin, however, an Austrian courier came on board, who 
stated that a gentleman in the service of his government 
had passed through, from the quarantine station, only the 
day before, on his way from Constantinople, and that his 
report was more favourable. The plague had undoubt- 
edly been very violent; but it had latterly been on the de- 
cline. The post from Semlin to Constantinople usually 
takes nine days ; and I was assured that the latest letters 
fully confirmed this intelligence. 



CHAPTER V. 

Battle of Salankement— Preparations of the Turks— Imperial army— Approach 0/ 
the enemy— Arrangements for action— Victory of the Imperialists— Belgrade — 
Semendria— Expanse of the Danube— Islands — Sunset — Spirits of the river. 

NfcT far from Semlin was fought the great battle of 
Salankement, which struck the first decisive blow against 
the establishment of Turkish nower in Europe. The eajiy 



IMPERIAL ARMY. 49 

months of the year 1691 were spent, both by the Turks and 
the Imperialists, in continual skirmishes, which were at- 
tended with various success, as if the two parties had in- 
tended to exercise and perfect themselves in military tac- 
tics, by way of preparation for the general conflict which 
was to take place in the autumn. The fortifications of 
Buda were materially strengthened. The counterscarps of 
Esseck on the Drave were enlarged, and four new batter- 
ies raised ; and as soon as the ice on the Danube was 
thawed, about the month of March, a great train of artil- 
lery, and vast quantities of ammunition were sent to the 
latter fortress, which was fixed upon as the general rendezr 
vous of the Imperial army. 

In consequence of the losses which the Turks had sus- 
tained in the skirmishes just mentioned, they were not in 
a situation to take the field until the middle of July. Their 
preparations were carried on by land and water upon an 
immense scale. Troops were assembled from the remotest 
parts of Asia, and directed to march for Hungary. Bel- 
grade was converted into a magazine for stores of every 
description. Upwards of three hundred ships, laden with 
ammunition and provisions, arrived at Vidin, with a view to 
convey their cargoes to Belgrade. Some of these ships 
were intercepted at Moldava, and other places on the 
Danube, by the Imperialists, but the greater part succeeded 
in reaching their destination. The river was crowded be- 
sides with Turkish galleys of war. 

In the mean time, a fruitless attempt was made by the 
representative of England at Constantinople to mediate a 
peace between the belligerents. The sultan Solyman died, 
and was succeeded by his brother Achmet, a prince of a 
lively and jocund humour, and withal a poet and musician. 
On ascending the throne, he gave orders, however, for 
prosecuting the war with the utmost vigour, in which he 
was warmly seconded by his grand vizier. Tartars, Curds, 
Arabians, Albanians, were all pressed into the service ; 
and as the different detachments of the Turkish army 
were passing over the bridges of the Save, they were count- 
ed at above 87,000 men, exclusive of 3,000 seamen, and 
some spahees who lagged behind, and the rabble usually 
attendant on camps. 

The Imperialists, under the command of Prince Lewis 
of Baden, a brave and fortunate, though not always a very 
discreet soldier, assembled at Peterwardein towards the 
end of July, followed by ships and vessels of different 
classes filled with provisions, ammunition, and other neces- 
saries. The prince ordered Peterwardein to be strongly 
fortified. The Imperial army, mustering sixty-six thou- 
5 



50 VICTORY OF THE IMPERIALISTS. 

sand men, marched on as far as Carlovitz, where they 
reste for a few days ; they then advanced as far as Sa- 
lankement, where they pitched their tents. When the 
prince, however, learned that the grand vizier had passed 
the Save, he continued his march to Semlin. 

An inconvenience, however, soon arose from the ships 
attending the Imperial camp being unable to descend the 
river below Peterwardein, in consequence of the great 
number of Turkish vessels constantly passing up and 
down the Danube. The provisions and other stores in- 
tended for the supply of the camp were thus placed at too 
great a distance from it. The Turkish army, moreover, 
was posted on an eminence, which would have given them 
great advantages if attacked in their trenches, within which 
they waited for that purpose. The prince accordingly fell 
back on Salankement. The Turks imagining this move- 
ment to be a retreat from fear of meeting them, sent some 
cavalry to harass their rear, w 7 hich, however, were repuls- 
ed; but, soon perceiving that the principal object of the 
monoeuvre was to approach nearer to the Imperial resources 
at Peterwardein, the grand vizier hastened to march be- 
yond them, and effected his object with so much celerity, and 
in so masterly a manner, that in the course of twenty-four 
hours he established his camp with regular walls breast- 
high, and bastions, on which cannon were planted. Thus 
all correspondence between the Imperialists and their 
depot at Peterwardein was effectually intercepted. The 
first result of this successful operation was the capture of 
two hundred and fifty wagons, carrying provisions to the 
Imperial army, and of one hundred ships belonging to 
their suttlers. 

The prince had now no alternative but to give or accept 
a decisive battle without delay. Accordingly, early on the 
morning of the 19th of August, having placed his troops in 
battle-array, he marched towards the Turks, the right 
wing being under his own command, the left under the 
courageous, wise, and experienced Count Dunewald. At 
noon both armies were face to face. The Turks, inclu- 
ding sixty thousand of the best soldiers in the Ottoman do- 
minions, and fifteen thousand veteran Janissaries, had the 
Danube behind them, and in their front a deep ditch, as 
well as a parapet ; their left wing was rather exposed. 

A bomb was fired as the signal of battle. The Imperi- 
alists advanced until they arrived within two hundred 
paces of the enemy. The artillery on each side was im- 
mediately brought into action. The right wing rushed to 
the encounter with great gallantry, but, unfortunately, be- 
fore the left could come up, in consequence of high grass 



VICTORY OF THE IMPERIALISTS. 51 

and bushes which were in its way. The prince entered 
the Turkish in trench ments ; the Janissaries, however, fired 
from behind their parapets with so much effect, that many, 
both of the chief and subaltern officers,' were killed or 
wounded. This unequal contest was carried on from 
three o'clock in the afternoon for several hours ; almost 
all the superior officers of the Imperial infantry were slain. 

The battle was equally disastrous on the other side of 
the field. The Turks attacked the left wing with great 
fury. For a while they were steadfastly repulsed, but the 
enemy being numerous in that direction, collected all their 
cavalry, and falling on their antagonists, cut down two 
battalions on the ground where they stood. It was appre- 
hended about six o'clock that the Imperialists had no 
chance of saving one man from the battle. They had no 
place of retreat, no bastions to defend them from the uni- 
versal slaughter with which they were menaced. The 
desperate nature of their situation, however, animated 
their hearts with fresh courage, and restored strength to 
their arms. The men stationed to guard the baggage, and 
the troops in reserve, rushed into the thick of the action ; 
the surviving officers and soldiers redoubled their ex- 
ertions ; the very fugitives turned round, ashamed of 
seeing their companions sacrificed. Such was the ardour 
with which they attacked the Turkish army, that the latter 
began to retire to their camp ; when Prince Lewis ad- 
vanced to their support, drove the enemy from the emi- 
nence on which their artillery was posted, and with the 
assistance of some fresh Hungarian troops which had 
come seasonably into the field, literally hewed down a pas- 
sage, through which the right'wing once more advanced. 
The result was no longer doubtful ; the Turks, attacked on 
all sides between their trenches and the Danube, were ulti- 
mately overcome with tremendous slaughter, such being 
the rage of the combatants on both sides, that neither 
would give quarter or receive it. 

The grand vizier, with such of the Turkish cavalry as 
could escape from the field of battle, fled beyond the Save, 
whither they were so closely pursued, that the roads were 
strewed with dead bodies ; he himself died of his wounds 
at Belgrade, as did also the seraskier and the colonel of 
the Janissaries. Twenty-five thousand of the enemy fell 
on that memorable day. They lost one hundred and fifty 
four pieces of cannon, a great number of ensigns, including 
the grand vizier's standard, ten thousand tents, many 
chests of copper and silver money, and innumerable cam 
els, mules, and other beasts of burden. Of the fifteen 
thousand Janissaries engaged in the action, only three 



52 SEMENDRIA. 

thousand returned to Constantinople. The losses on the 
side of the Imperialists were also very great: so much so, 
that the king of France, whose counsels had encouraged 
Achmet to prosecute the war, instructed his ambassador 
to console the sultan by assuring him, that such another 
victory would ruin the emperor. 

We quitted Semlin at noon, and passed by Belgrade, 
keeping, however, as close as possible to the Hungarian 
bank of the Danube, in obedience to the quarantine laws, 
which are enforced here with the utmost rigour. The city, 
which is associated with so many interesting recollections 
of the wars between Austria and the Ottoman empire, looks 
a splendid collection of mosques, with their white, tall min- 
arets, palaces with their domes, gardens, cypresses, and 
shady groves. The citadel, which is strongly fortified, oc- 
cupies a lofty hill that overlooks every part of the town, 
and is well calculated for its defence. The palace and 
seraglio of the pacha were pointed out to me by our cap- 
tain ; they cover a considerable space of ground, and ex- 
hibit an imposing appearance. The river Theiss, already 
mentioned, by which it is supposed the cholera a few years 
ago found its way into Hungary from Russia, flows into 
the Danube a little above Semlin. Here it is further en- 
larged by the junction of the Save. I expected, therefore, 
to have found the Danube at Belgrade exhibiting some 
signs of grandeur and of commercial activity. It does, 
indeed, present a most magnificent sheet of water, upon 
w T hich, if it were deep enough, the whole British navy 
might ride with safety ; — but, with the exception of a few 
small wherries, in which some dirty Turks were fishing 
lazily in the sun, there was scarcely a symptom of anima- 
tion around us. Belgrade itself looked, at a distance, like 
a city of the dead. 

The Hungarian side of the river was flat and desolate; 
the erection of mud cottages here and there on piles, three 
or four feet from the ground, indicated the height to which 
the river is raised occasionally by inundations. The cot- 
tages which we perceived sometimes on the Servian shore, 
were equally miserable, though the bank was much higher, 
crowned at some distance by finely-wooded hills. By four 
o'clock in the afternoon Semendria came in sight. This 
was once an important naval station and powerful fortress 
in the hands of the Turks; but it has for many years fallen 
into decay. I saw in its port two brigs of war, of eight 
guns each, which had been recently built for the Prince of 
Servia, Milosch, by a company of carpenters from the 
island of Zante. They were both aground, and appeared 
to have no chance of being extricated from their position 



EXPANSE OF THE DANUBE. 53 

until the winter. Semendria is prettily situated at the foot 
of a hill, which almost approaches to the dignity of a moun- 
tain. It is defended on the side of the Danube by walls and 
castles, in the old style of fortification, which look pictu- 
resque at a distance," but could afford no protection against 
the artillery of modern times. The castles seemed to be 
the habitation of a numerous tribe of birds. Near the town 
I observed a pretty villa, in the grounds belonging to which 
two ladies, veiled like nuns, were promenading. 

The Danube seemed, near Belgrade, an expanse of wa- 
ters which would have afforded ample space for the whole 
of the British navy. We had scarcely left Semendria be- 
hind us when the river became still wider, resembling, in- 
deed, a vast lake, sufficient, as to superficial extent at least, 
to contain all the navies of the world. It was here, in every 
respect, a truly magnificent object. The more I became 
acquainted with this noble river, the greater was my aston- 
ishment that it was so little known to Europe, and hitherto 
so rarely made use of for the purposes of commerce. Just 
as the sun was on the decline, flinging his last rays on the 
tranquil mirror beneath us, the Tyrolese crowded on deck, 
and favoured us with several of their national songs, which 
they performed with infinite spirit. It was the last time I 
was to hear them, as we expected to arrive at night at 
Vipalanka, where they were to debark, on their way to 
Transylvania. 

After passing Kubin, we perceived the commencement 
of several groups of islands, which, however beautiful in 
themselves, diminish the majestic character the Danube 
would otherwise have maintained the whole way from Se- 
mendria to Moldava. They occasionally divide the waters 
into two or three rivers, in appearance ; none of which, 
however, can be considered as insignificant. The main 
current, which runs by the Hungarian bank, retains uni- 
formly much of the general grandeur of the parent flood. 
These islands are densely wooded with osiers and ever- 
green shrubs, which afford a safe refuge for water-fowl of 
every description. Wild ducks and geese frequently rose 
in clouds, one above another, in the sky, winging their way 
towards their island homes. Now and then a solitary ea- 
gle sailed through the firmament, directing his course to 
the mountains, which appeared like pure azure far away 
on the horizon. 

As we proceeded among the islands, we could not avoid 
admiring the picturesque order in which they were dis- 
posed, the vernal verdure which every tree, and every leaf, 
and every blade of grass exhibited ; while the brown tints 
of the woods and fields, in all other quarters, proclaimed 



54 SPIRITS OP THE DANUBE. 

the fading season of the year. This contrast of decay on 
one side, with the blooming freshness of the islands on the 
other, the variety of their forms, their shady inlets, their 
clusters of magnificent shrubs, hung with flowers that some- 
times rivalled the rose, sometimes the strawberry, the 
snowdrop, the lily, or the blue convolvulus ; the wild beau- 
ty of their woods, the deep solitude in which they seemed 
to be secluded from all the world, interrupted only by the 
screams or rushing sounds of countless birds hastening to 
their shores, gave them a most romantic appearance, es- 
pecially in the golden light of evening, which still lingered 
around them. 

The unruffled surface of the Danube reflected the whole 
canopy of the sky, and gave back, in softened tones, the 
saffron, ruby, and purple lines of fire, which still glowed in 
the west. The image of the departing sun was lengthened 
in the waters, where it appeared like a long perpendicular 
column of light. This optical delusion was the more stri- 
king, as the part of the Danube in which we had now ar- 
rived was, in fact, little better than a series of shallows, 
through which we were steering our course with the utmost 
difficulty. 

As soon as the sun went down, the night became rapidly 
so dark, that I know not how we should have contrived to 
pursue our way, had not some fields of stubble on the left 
bank been accidentally set on fire. The flame threw its 
light far along the river, and materially assisted the helms- 
man to keep his track. Here and there, among the inlets 
of the islands on the opposite shore, lights also were visi- 
ble, proceeding from fires kindled for the purposes of cook- 
ing, by fishermen or fowlers, whose little boats were moor- 
ed in the neighbourhood. Vast pillars of smoke moved 
now and then over the blazing stubbles, assuming the most 
fantastic shapes ; sometimes, as they apparently flitted 
along the bank, they might have been painted, by an ima- 
ginary spectator, as the spirits of the Danube. 



WINDINGS OF THE DANUBE. 55 



CHAPTER VI. 

Windings of the Danube— Civility of the Moldavian — Arrival at Moldava— Arrange- 
ments for voyage to Orsova— A Wallachian beauty — Flock of geese — Ditto of 
children — Woodmen — Commencement of mountain chain — Earthquakes in Hun- 
gary — Rustic sounds — Peasantry — Removal to fishing-boat — Our equipment — 
Accusation of robbery— Haunt of Wallachian brigands— Romantic gorge— Ca- 
verns. 

I was awoke during the night by a violent storm of thun- 
der and lightning, which I attempted to witness from the 
deck. The sky was an entire canopy of fire, and the thun- 
der pealed incessantly, until at length the rain fell in warm 
showers, which soon became a deluge. I was glad to take 
refuge in my berth again, and slept soundly until a late 
hour of the morning, (29th,) when I found our Tyrolese and 
their officers all busily engaged in landing their effects at 
Vipalanka. The bank was converted into a marsh by the 
rain; but, by the assistance of planks, they succeeded in 
effecting their object. The village was at a distance, and 
its mean appearance did not induce me to pay it a visit. — 
Nearly opposite to Vipalanka are situated the village and 
fortress of Rama, on the brow of a bold and lofty promon- 
tory. The fortress still looks respectable, though partly in 
ruins; it commands the Danube at a point where begin 
those amazing serpentine undulations which form, perhaps, 
its most striking characteristic. 

The map will show, that, if a canal were cut in a straight 
line from Rama to Vidin, it would be the cord of a vast ir- 
regular arch, full of windings, which indicate the various 
struggles made by this river in the early ages of the globe, 
before and after it forced its way through the heart of the 
mountains below Moldava, in its efforts to re£ich the Black 
Sea. Such a canal would save the navigator a period of 
full three days, which the mere deviations of the river in 
that quarter at present consume. Such a canal would, 
moreover, avoid some of the most serious difficulties now 
impeding the passage of the Danube, especially in seasons 
of drought, which are peculiarly felt in the whole of that in- 
terval. I despair of such a work being undertaken for the 
next half- century ;* but I am apprehensive that, until it 
shall be accomplished, the steam navigation of the Danube, 

*I learn, however, while this sheet is passing through the press, that 
a determination has been taken by the Austrian government, upon the 
suggestion of Count Szechenyi, to cut canals at two different points of the 
Servian bank, in order to avoir! the falls of the Danube between Moldava 
and Gladova. Prince Milosch has already sanctioned this important 
undertaking; and there is little doubt that the Porte also will give its 
assent to a project calculated to be highly beneficial to Turkey. 



56 ARRIVAL AT MOLDAVA. 

at least by vessels of any considerable burden, will be lia- 
ble to frequent interruptions. In the river, cranes were 
wading without any difficulty, so low was the water in al- 
most every direction. 

When we departed from Vipalanka for Moldavia, our 
passengers were reduced to the Servian Jew and his pale 
daughter, the Moldavian adventurer, and myself. The lat- 
ter contrived, throughout the voyage, to amuse himself and 
his associates by his inexhaustible stores of poetry and an- 
ecdote, but he had not hitherto addressed himself with any 
thing like determination, to my attention, or to that of the 
Jew. Finding, however, that we were bound further down 
the river, he gradually mingled in our conversation by vol- 
unteering the information which he possessed concerning 
the portion of the voyage we had still to achieve, and con- 
ducted himself with so much civility, that notwithstanding 
his objectionable appearance, I began to like the fellow. 

Although the rain had ceased, the morning continued 
cloudy ; but we were compensated in some degree for the 
interruption of the fine weather which we lately enjoyed, 
by the agreeable change of scenery that now broke upon 
our view. We glided along, sounding vigilantly, however, 
all the way, between two ranges of hill, wooded to the top, 
and opening now and then into valleys and ravines, in 
which neat white cottages were scattered, and shepherds 
were seen driving their flocks afield. The bendings of the 
river were so abrupt, that sometimes we could have ima- 
gined ourselves to have entered upon an extensive lake, 
whence there was no outlet apparent until we reached the 
headland round which the current preserved its course. 
As soon as we turned that point, the scene behind us was 
as completely concealed from the eye, as if a curtain of 
cloud had been dropped upon it. 

Fields of Indian corn, hills deeply indented by the rains, 
and exhibiting sometimes the appearance of artificial for- 
tresses, sometimes retiring to a distance, and leaving in 
front abrupt mounds of the most fantastic shapes; villages 
with their churches and steeples on one side, and churches 
and minarets on the other ; Servians on our right, fishing 
in little cockle-shells of boats ; Hungarians on the left, 
tending herds of swine ; mountains towering in the dis- 
tance — in turn engaged our attention until we arrived at 
Moldava, where we cast anchor at noon. 

Had the plan of the directors of the enterprise been duly 
carried into execution, we should have immediately quit- 
ted Moldava in a light boat rowed by four stout Walla- 
chians, and drawing little more than six inches of water. 
A neat wherry, destined for that purpose, was, in fact, ly- 



WALLACHIAN BEAUTY. 57 

ing near the village, but to our dismay, we were informed 
that in many parts of the Danube between Moldava and 
Grsova, a distance of about nine leagues, there were not six 
inches of water, nor even three. The cargo was intended to 
be sent on by land, but there was no mode of conveyance 
for the passengers, except a rough fiat-bottomed boat be- 
longing to a fisherman, who would not permit him to have 
the use of it, unless it was committed to his own guidance, 
and rowed by his own comrades. We were informed by 
the agent of the company, an Italian, who assumed an air of 
great importance, that we should easily reach Orsova in 
eight hours at the utmost. Having no choice, therefore, 
save the flat-bottomed boat, or a pedestrian tour of twice 
the distance, over horrible mountain roads, we submitted 
to our fate, and it was arranged that the fisherman should 
take charge of us at daybreak the next morning.* 

Moldava is an emporium of some commerce in its way. 
Several boats were moored near the bank, laden with hay, 
which groups of peasants were engaged in transferring to 
strong huge cars constructed in the form of a V. Some 
fifty or sixty oxen, by which these cars were to be drawn, 
were lying on the shore ruminating, or wandering about 
by w T ay of relaxation. The cars proceeded to the water- 
side in succession ; in one of these, which was waiting for 
its turn, I observed a remarkably fine Wallachian woman, 
spinning wool from a distaff in the primeval fashion. She 
was attired in a short woollen white mantle, under which 
was a robe of printed calico, which, without appearing in 
front, came down belo^' the mantle behind. A neat linen 
chemise was fold^J in plaits upon her bosom, beneath 
which she sported a gay dimity apron, and a canvass pet- 
ticoat. Her raven-black hair was carefully divided in 
front, braided over her ears, and detained in a knot be- 
hind, bv a tortoise-shell comb, from which was suspended 
a snW-white linen veil, that fell on her back gracefully. 
Nether shoe nor sandal served to hide her feet, which 
might have been chosen by Phidias for the statue of Mi- 
nerva. This noble-looking woman, whose features were 
all of the Grecian mould, was the mother of three very fine 
young men, who were standing by her, accompanied by a 
huge mastiff, as if their purpose had been to exhibit a liv- 
ing tableau from the pastoral age and country of Aga- 
memnon. 

Amongst the busy group, a young Greek priest recog- 
nised some friends. He seemed a man of authority, in his 

*In this respect also an improvement has taken place since my visit r 
the steamboat now descends as far as Kozla, about seven leagues from 
Moldava. 

25 



58 FLOCK OP CHILDREN. 

peaked Shylock-looking hat, black sutan, cincture of wide 
blue riband, comely beard, and silver-headed cane. I pit- 
ied a little boy who was employed in urging a numerous 
colony of geese through the crowd ; they seemed very 
much disposed to prefer making the journey by water, 
while he was equally determined in favour of the dry 
land. Now, a wild dog put them all into confusion, when 
off they half waddled, half flew, to the edge of the river. 
Now, they were fairly on the march again, when the leader, 
desirous of cooling his bill, suddenly gave the word of com- 
mand. A general mutiny ensued — the boy ran breathless 
after them, throwing sticks and stones, sand and cow-dung, 
at the fugitives, until he succeeded once more in restoring 
discipline. His patience was, after many severe trials, 
eventually rewarded by success. On another part of the 
shore, some Servians were squatted in a line, with sacks of 
onions before them, which they had brought across the riv- 
er for sale. A plank was placed between them and their 
Hungarian customers, who stood at a little distance, neither 
being allowed to pass over the plank which represented 
the quarantine. The bargains were conducted, on the part 
of the Servians, by a single spokesman, who appeared an 
extremely knowing sort of personage. 

I walked into the village, or rather, I should say, the low- 
er part of the "town," which is chiefly inhabited by fisher- 
men. It is inferior in every respect to Mohacs, the cot- 
tages having all roois of wood, wicker walls plastered with 
mud, and even wicker chimneys. As 1 was strolling qui- 
etly along, a troop of almost nakod little urchins gathered, 
shouting, around me, and grasping iny right hand, kissed 
it with tokens of fervour, which I confess I should have ex- 
cused under the circumstances, not knowing exactly what 
might be the practical recollections impressed on the said 
hand of the honours which they thought fit to bestow. A 
few small pieces of silver had the effect of dispers'no- this 
group, but also of diffusing information through the ^hole 
town of the arrival of a stranger. Accordingly, as I pro- 
ceeded, my steps were literally beset by armies of ragged 
figures, who claimed my hand. I gave them to understand, 
in the course of a regular parley, that I had no more silver, 
upon which I was suffered to mate a retreat, without being 
enabled to visit the upper part of the Ci town," where, as I 
afterwards learned, much better houses, and a respectable 
class of inhabitants, are to be found. 

The mountainous scenery of the Danube commences 
a little below Moldava. I set out to climb one of the emi- 
nences, from which I might command a view of the coun- 
try. I had no gun, no arms of any description ; nothing 



MOUNTAIN CHAIN. 59 

except an umbrella which I might use in self-defence. I 
never, by the way, encountered an Englishman travelling, 
abroad or at home, without an umbrella : it seems a nation- 
al distinction. I do not know that I acted with much pru- 
dence in thus wandering, alone and unarmed, in a strange, 
and I may add, a more than semi-barbarous region; the 
more especially as, in the course of my excursion among 
these mountains, I met, now and then, savage looking wood- 
men returning home from the neighbouring thickets, dri- 
ving before them donkies, almost hidden beneath their bur- 
dens of brambly firewood, and bearing on their shoulders 
heavy axes, with which, if they were so disposed, they 
might have annihilated me without the slightest danger of 
discovery. But in all such cases I was circumspect, and 
being nearly as tall and as strong as the ordinary run of 
men, I had few apprehensions about encountering at least 
a single foe, if not taken unawares. 

As I ascended, I found that the mountains which I trod 
were but steps to higher and higher ranges, which rose 
dimly in the distance, and appeared to occupy a consider- 
able portion of the country on both sides of the Danube. 
By what process the river forced its way among them — 
whether they were violently separated from each other by 
repeated volcanic operations, or whether the flood created 
its own channel, by loosening masses of rock and driving 
them before it— I had no means of conjecturing. The 
chain commences here almost like a wall at either side of 
the current; but the undulations of the hills, which I had ob- 
served on our approach to Moldava, as well as of the lower 
mountains at some distance from the banks, strongly fa- 
vour the supposition that a vast inundation had accumu- 
lated in all that region before an opening was found for it 
to the Euxine. 

The impression I received from contemplating the scene 
before me, was, that the channel through which the river 
now flows was opened through the mountains by an earth- 
quake. Convulsions of this description are by no means 
uncommon in Hungary. So lately a« tne year 1815, three 
shocks occurred in one day at Moor, about thirty miles to 
the west of Buda. That place appears to have expe- 
rienced repeated and violent shocks, the most severe of 
which occurred in January and February, 1810. While 
they lasted, the earth opened, several houses were thrown 
down, and a formidable fissure was made in the dome of 
the Franciscan church. A commission was appointed, 
consisting of several distinguished professors, to inquire 
into the circumstances of this earthquake. They repaired 
to Moor for the purpose, and from their report it appears 



60 EARTHQUAKES. 

that this town is situated in a valley, between hills entirely 
composed of magnesian limestone; that the mountain 
Csoka, near the town, was the central point of the earth- 
quake, and that Moor and the villages in its neighbourhood 
suffered most from the agitation. 

Dr. Bright gives the following summary of the report 
made by the learned commissioners, Kitaibel, Tomtsany. 
and Fabricy. " The first shock was experienced about 
four o'clock in the afternoon of the 14th of January ; it 
lasted about seven seconds; and throughout the whole 
night subterraneous noises, resembling the reports of dis- 
tant cannon, kept the inhabitants in constant alarm. This 
first shock was succeeded by many others through a 
course of several weeks, and, occasionally, even for six 
months. One person distinctly counted one hundred and 
forty-four between the 22d of January and 5th of Februa- 
ry ; and others asserted, that between the 14th of January 
and the 13th of February, they had felt one thousand I 
Few of them lasted more than two seconds; they were 
more frequent and more severe in the night ; and it was 
thought that a kind of regularity was observable with re- 
spect to their severity, so that the shocks were most felt in 
the evening, about midnight, and about three o'clock in the 
morning. The sensation produced was that of a sudden, 
perpendicular shock, preceded by a report, and followed 
by a fluctuating motion, not simply undulating and passing 
on, but often moving backwards and forwards. The mo- 
tion, however, was distinctly progressive ; and persons 
both heard a noise approach, and saw the objects succes- 
sively set in motion. Some who were going away from 
the hill of Csoka, hearing a loud report, looked back, and 
thought tney saw the hill approaching them; and some, 
who, during the earthquake, were in the forest, perceived 
the trees move 1o wards them with the undulation of the 
surface. The effect extended over several miles. Many 
towers were thrown down, or partially injured ; and the 
earth m several places rent with fissures of 60 or 100 fath- 
oms in length, and ?v foot in breadth. Some wells entirely 
lost their water, and springs burst out where before they 
did not exist. Three lives only were lost. Lightning was 
frequent during the period of the severest earthquakes ; 
and some declared they had perceived a strong sulphu- 
reous odour." 

In the month of September, 1813, shocks were expe- 
rienced on the same day both at Pesth and GEdenburgh : 
in Transylvania, also, they have been frequent. " In the 
district denominated Burzenland," says Dr. Bright, "a 
most severe earthquake took place in October, 1802. In 



RUSTIC BOUNDS, 61 

the village of Brenndorf it overthrew above fifty houses, 
and destroyed several of the country churches. In one 
place the motion was so great that the roof of the church 
was, on one side, raised at least three yards from the wall, 
and then regained its situation before the building foil : and 
at the village of Roth back, Marienburgh informs us, (in 
the Zeitschrift von und fur Ungern,) that a column of wa- 
ter rose out of a fissure formed by the convulsion, which 
continued to throw a fountain several feet in the air. The 
effects of this earthquake were experienced as far as Bu- 
charest." 

I have made these extracts in order to show the great 
probability which exists that, by a similar operation of na- 
ture, the mountains in this district were rent asunder to 
afford a passage to the Danube. 

A few white cottages were sprinkled on the declivities 
of the mountains, and swineherds were seen here and 
there driving their undisciplined companions homeward* 
A train of wagons laden with woolpacks, and drawn by 
oxen, whose bells tinkled in the air, was descending from 
the northern heights ; but on the Servian side of the river 
all was silence and desolation. I thought the evening was 
about to close in abruptly, as, after a slight shower of rain, 
the mountains and hills around me suddenly put on their 
mantles of mist. The sun setting with great splendour, 
soon, however, changed the scene, arraying their promi- 
nent slopes in robes of light, and dispersing the vapours 
which were fast gathering all around the horizon. 

As I returned to my temporary home, I loitered, not un- 
pleased, to listen to the variety of rustic noises which the 
close of the day brought with it — the barking of dogs, the 
still, tinkling bells of the oxen already arrived at the river- 
side, the crack of the swineherd's whip, the distant calls of 
voices echoing in the mountains, the rare and sleepy twit- 
ter of the birds, the shouts of children in the village, and 
the merry sounds of a violin. A few old men and their 
grown-up, hardy daughters, were dredging far minnows in 
the river, apparently with little success^The woolpacks 
were all discharged on the bank, in onfcr to be loaded the 
next morning on board the steam>oat, which was to de- 
part without delay on its return „kfPesth. The peasants 
who had arrived with the wagons exhibited, to me at least, 
a singular appearance. Some were in canvass shirts, 
trousers, and round woolly caps, without any other pro- 
tection against cold or rain 5 others added to this attire a 
goatskin in its natural condition, without being even 
trimmed of its superfluities. I could not have distinguished 
the women from the men, had not the hair of the former 



62 FISHING BOAT. 

been platted and fastened under a small linen cap, which 
was fitted closely on the top of Me head. I soon lost sight 
of the whole of this motley assemblage in the dusk of night, 
when I resumed my old station in the cabin, there being no 
such thing as an inn at Moldava. 

The Servian Jew found an opportunity of sending his 
daughter, with some friends, across the river : he intended 
to proceed to Vidin. The poet also was still fated to be 
my companion, as his object was to get back to Jassy. 
I own that, with all my respect for his talents, and with all 
the philosophic patience which I have acquired from some 
little experience in travelling, I could not enter into discus- 
sion with him, as to the arrangements necessary to be 
made for the following morning, without considerable 
twinges of reluctance. I had no thought of preparing 
stores for the expedition, as I presumed that we should 
reach Orsova early in the afternoon. He advised me, 
however, to provide myself with a cold chicken or two, 
and a bottle of rum, a suggestion which I took care to 
adopt, though it left me to suspect that my period of inevi- 
table companionship with himself would be rather longer 
than I had already apprehended. 

The morning came in all the breathing brightness of sum- 
mer, though we were just on the eve of October. It had 
been arranged that the fisherman and his associates should 
be with us at five o'clock, but they failed to make their ap- 
pearance until seven. They excused themselves by asking, 
whether anybody could have expected that they should 
commence their labours before they had breakfasted f Our 
luggage having been removed into the flat-bottomed barge, 
the poet, the Jew, and I assumed our places, after taking a 
friendly leave of the captain and the engineer, from both of 
whom I experienced every kind of civility which they 
could possibly show to a countryman. 

The master, or patron of the boat, as he is more usually 
called, was a. short weatherbeaten old man, who had al- 
ready counted more than seventy winters. The pupil of 
one eye was completely dimmed, and of the other scarcely 
sufficient remained sound to admit more than a single ray 
of light. Yet through that small aperture he issued glan- 
ces of authority, which, enforced by an imprecation or two, 
sometimes made the fellows at the oars wince. His helm 
was a long oar, which he moved to either side of the 
stern as occasion required. The rest of our equipage 
was in a very simple, or rather in a very unworkmanlike 
style. The oars, which were just like our fire-shovels, 
with short handles, were passed through a noose of thong 
or rope, tied to a peg in the edge of the vessel, which noose, 



WALLACHIAN BRIGANDS. 63 

or which peg, or which said thong or rope gave way 
about every quarter of an hour, another quarter being re- 
quired for its restoration. We had three rowers, the ex- 
cess of velocity at one side being corrected by the long 
oar of the patron at the stern. 

We had not gone above two hundred yards from the 
place of embarkation when a man came running and shout- 
ing after us. We took no notice of him for a while, think- 
ing that he must have been out of his senses, so furious 
were his gesticulations. At length, however, he made us 
understand that we had stolen one of his oars, and we 
were obliged to put into shore to answer this charge. After 
a long controversy, if controversy that can be called in 
which our patron and his confederates and their accuser 
were all talking, scolding, and shouting together, we gave 
him up an old oar, which he took very discontentedly. 
About eight o'clock we were once more fairly on our way. 

There being no sort of accommodation for passengers 
in our bark, I sat on my portmanteau ; the Jew disposed of 
himself on a piece of carpet beside me, and in front of him 
the poet on the bare plank. A space near the prow was 
occupied by a woman and her two children. Much to my 
surprise, when we arrived in the middle of the river, and 
I began to hope our men were resolved to regain the time 
we had already lost, they deliberately took in their oars, 
and opening a wallet of bread, garlic, and cold fried fish, 
they proceeded to breakfast. The poet asked whether 
they had not performed that operation already, to which 
they replied that they had been disturbed at their morning 
meal, and that they must now finish it. Our precious bark 
was therefore left to make its own way down the river, a 
mode of travelling at all events possessed of the advanta- 
ges of enabling us to observe at our leisure the scenery 
amidst which we entered. 

At the entrance of the mountain gorge through which 
the Danube here finds its course, stand the ruins of Kolu- 
batz, a pile of castles built on an almost inaccessible rock, 
which, about a century ago were occupied by a band of 
Wallachian brigands, under the command of Borichour, a 
name still repeated with a traditional sort of terror in all 
that neighbourhood. His depredations were carried on 
upon a princely scale, as he affected to consider himself 
the legitimate sovereign of the country around him, as far 
as he could reach without endangering the safety of his 
retreat to his own fortress, which he deemed impregnable. 
The fishermen tell numberless stories of this celebrated 
robber, and of his banditti, who are said to* have often 
fought against disciplined troops, five times their number, 



64 CAVERNS. 

with invariable success. When once shut up within their 
drawbridge, they defied their enemies, however numerous 
these might be, for even if their castles had been all de- 
molished, they had secret passages through the interior of 
their rock, leading to caverns in the adjacent mountains, 
where they had always ample store of provisions, and 
feared no pursuit. The ruins are highly picturesque, and 
by their formidable position give probability to the wildest 
tales that are related of Borichour and his Wallachians. 

The Austrian guardhouse on the opposite bank exhibited 
a miserable appearance, when compared with these re- 
mains of chivalry. It was built loosely of uncemented 
stones, with a wooden roof, and even a wooden chimney. 
A sentinel was looking out lazily at the door, in front of 
which was a stand for arms. Near the house an angle of 
an old castle attests that that side of the river also had its 
fortress in former days, though not so extensive as Kolu- 
batz. 

As we proceeded through this romantic gorge, within 
which the Danube was pressed by mountains rising on 
each side to a considerable height, we heard repeated ex- 
plosions, which we might easily have mistaken for dis- 
charges of artillery besieging a citadel. We soon observ- 
ed, however, a number of men at work on the Hungarian 
bank, engaged in widening the carriage-road, and were in- 
formed that farther down the river it was necessary to 
blow up the rocks for that purpose. The echoes of these 
detonations resounding among the mountains and along 
the waters, gave peculiar interest to the scene ; they spoke 
of enterprise and industry well applied, and were the har- 
bingers of national prosperity, civilization, and happiness. 

I observed several caverns in our mountain banks as we 
went along, and was informed that some of the boldest 
rocks, which shot up in the most fantastic peaks, were all 
hollow inside, and occasionally inhabited by fishermen. 
In the days of brigandage they served as retreats for pi- 
rates, and all sorts of marauders, who rendered the pass- 
age of this part of the Danube an affair of no slight danger. 
Occasionally masses of rock appeared above our heads, 
depending for support on rude pillars, in which capitals 
wrought by the hand of Nature might be descried. One 
immense buttress rose in the shape of a round tower, near 
the top of which a large cavern was visible, accessible by 
a gateway naturally arched in the Gothic style. 



PASTORAL SCENE. 



65 



CHAPTER VII. 

Pastoral scene— Echoes — Picture of laziness — Rapids of the Danube — Miller and 
his men — Pedestrian excursion — Wallachian shepherdesses — Dancing boors — 
Priest of the parish— The governor — George Dewar — Contest between the priest 
and the poet — Supper— Musical treat — The Moldavian— Sketch of the inn-room — 
Hospitable invitation — Triple-bedded room — Latin harangue. 

Still falling down with the stream, as our rowers had 
not yet finished their matin meal, we stole quietly along 
amid tremendous piles of rock, which rose higher and 
higher as we proceeded, sometimes barren of the slightest 
traces of vegetation, sometimes covered with brambles ; the 
whole appearing as if they had been made the sport of 
more than one volcanic convulsion. A grassy glen open- 
ing on our right 3 exhibiting a cluster of elms, beneath which 
a Servian boy was tending his swine, and amusing himself 
by playing a simple pastoral air on a reed, offered an agree- 
able contrast to the frowning horrors around us. The eye 
ranged beyond the glen over a richly-wooded valley, open- 
ing far among the rocks, where a group of women seemed 
engaged in cooking by a fire, whose smoke curled upwards 
among the trees. 

The pipe of the swineherd seemed to awaken the musical 
faculties of our boatmen, one of whom, a short, thick-bodied 
Wallachian, wearing on his head a woolly sheepskin cap, 
might have been sketched as the very personification of in- 
dolence. His oar was as short as himself, and when he 
did permit it to come in contact with the water, his whole 
object seemed to be to move it against the least possible 
quantum of resistance. When he sated his appetite for gar- 
lic and fish, and washed down these materials by a draught 
of some thin red wine, which he drank from a small wood- 
en keg, instead of resuming his appointed labour, he began 
to sing a Wallachian ballad, of which the following notes 
may, perhaps, afford the musical reader some faint idea. 





sfi 



2ffiaEP 



^ 



g£^ 



W- 3 



6* 



66 



ECHOES — BOAT ON THE ROCKS. 



g^^PpSI 



It was a wild and melancholy strain, sung with a strong 
nasal accent; and in the intervals between the verses, one 
of our Wallachians, a lathy, hardy, bareheaded youth, who 
seemed to have been just brought in from the woods, set 
up a shrill, abrupt shout, which, from the effect of the echo, 
seemed in a little while after to be answered by some voice 
far away over the mountains. 

When the process of eating had no longer any charms, 
and the attractions even of song ceased to captivate our 
boatmen, they deliberately went to sleep. As the morning 
was thus wearing fast away, while we made little progress, 
the poet and I took the oars, and rowed until he could hold 
out no longer. The narrow rocky gorge, through which 
we had been stealing our course for upwards of two hours, 
at length gradually opened into a wider channel, hemmed 
in by irregular hills, thickly wooded with brambles. As the 
boat was still wandering down the current, our fellows all 
fast asleep, it landed somewhat roughly on a bed of rocks 
in the middle of the river. The patron awoke from his 
(.reams in a violent rage, the fire glancing from his dimin- 
vitive eyeball, as if we were all about to be lost in an inch 
or two of water ! 

The boatmen, when they were roused from slumber, 
seemed scarcely to know where they were, or what they 
were to do: oars and poles were in immediate requisition, 
and amid shouts of imprecations, commands, interroga- 
tions, replies, rejoinders, and expressions of indignation 
and wonder, how such a thing could happen, they endeav- 
oured in vain to move the vessel from its place of rest. At 
length the patron compelled them to get out upon the rocks, 
and shift the boat along, which they did without much dif- 
ficulty, restoring us once more to the deeper current. The 
completion of this operation was the signal for another 
hour of recreation, which our Wallachians devoted to 
smoking, keeping the while under their legs the oars high 
out of the water. I never beheld such a picture of laziness 
as that which these men presented. Our patron seemed to 
have the faculty of guiding the boat, though wrapped in 
profound sleep ; and his companions, when they were not 
eating or drinking, were either sleeping, smoking, sing- 
ing, or lounging, any thing save working, which they con- 
trived, as much as they possibly could, to avoid. 



RAPIDS — "MILLER AND HIS MEN." 67 

So abrupt and frequent were the windings of the Danube, 
amid the beauteous hills which form its banks below the 
narrow gorge of rocks above described, that often, on look- 
ing back, we saw no trace of the direction by which we 
had come ; nor, on looking before us, could we discern by 
what course we were to proceed. We seemed to be shut 
in on all sides, as within a mountain-lake, from which there 
was no apparent egress, until, by turning a little cape, we 
found ourselves in another and another lake, in succession. 
We left this charming scenery behind us, on approaching 
the rapids of the Danube, where its bed is wholly composed 
of rough rocks, sometimes starting up in masses nearly to 
the surface of the river, sometimes forming a wall, running 
across from bank to bank, and producing a perceptible 
fall in the current. We were warned of the danger to be 
encountered on passing these rapids, by the hoarse mur- 
mur of the waters, which we had heard at a distance. The 
obstacles which the river met in its course produced con- 
siderable undulations on its surface, amounting now and 
then to waves, on which our bark was hurried away, not- 
withstanding all the efforts of our rowers, and dashed 
against the rocks. Had our boat not been a very strong 
one, or had the impulse been somewhat stronger, we should 
probably have been wrecked among these rapids, owing 
chiefly to the unskilfulness of our people, as well as the ludi- 
crous state of alarm in which their ignorance involved them. 

The banks again assumed a wild, rocky character, and 
approached so near each other, that, when the river is full, 
the volume of waters w r hich rushes through that space must 
be terrific. As it was, we were constantly rubbing on the 
bottom, and might have walked almost dry-footed on ledges 
which extended quite across the stream. The boat was 
literally carried over these ledges, as there was not water 
enough to float it. Our patron repeatedly told us that he, 
though seventy-three years old, had never known the Dan- 
ube so low as it was upon that occasion. In the almost 
perpendicular wall which rose on our right, there was a 
singular lusus natures on a gigantic scale — it was a com- 
plete figure of a water-mill and mill-house petrified, and 
slightly crushed by an enormous rock, which had fallen 
upon it from the higher precipices. The face of the super- 
incumbent mass presented the figure of a monk preaching 
from a pulpit ; and it only required the existence of a le- 
gend, to induce a superstitious mind to believe, that the 
"miller and his men" had been notorious criminals — that 
the monk had come to reprove them — and that while he 
was still vainly exhorting them to repentance, the living 
scene was suddenly transformed into stone. 



68 WALLACH1AN SHEPHERDESSES. 

The whole of this narrow passage amongst the rocks 
was curious and highly romantic. A little beyond the pet- 
rified mill, on the opposite side, we beheld a perfect outline 
of an immense lion, couching ; the head, the eyes, the 
mouth, and the paws, were as correctly delineated on the 
naked stone, as if they had been drawn by the hand of an 
artist. A cluster of rocks, somewhat further on. assumed 
all the appearance of the ruins of a cathedral, with its tow- 
ers and ivied walls, and Gothic windows and gates. The 
effect of this pile was remarkably picturesque, as it rose on 
an eminence above a mass of green foliage, which seemed 
to conceal the lower parts of the cathedral. 

The day was now far advanced, and as we lost all hope 
of reaching Orsovathat evening, and the further navigation 
of the rapids became tedious and disagreeable, I proposed 
that we should put into what is here generally considered 
the Wallachian shore: though, on the maps, it is all Hun- 
garian as far as Orsova. The inhabitants differ in no re- 
spect from those of Wallachia ; they speak the Wallachian 
language, wear the Wallachian costume, and, though un- 
der the dominion of Austria, look upon the peopleof the 
neighbouring province, as of their own kindred. The Jew 
and the poet readily complied with my suggestion, and the 
country becoming quite level as soon as we emerged from 
the last rocky gorge, we directed our helmsman to steer 
for the left bank, where we landed, with a view of walking 
on to the village of Swinich, at a distance of about ten 
miles, where we were to stop for the night. 

As we proceeded on our pedestrian journey, we met oc- 
casionally Wallachian shepherdesses, driving before them 
goats and sheep. They had uniformly distaffs in their hands, 
from which the)' actively spun the wool round the spindle 
as they walked along. They were all barefooted ; and, over 
a canvass petticoat and chemise, usually wore a stripe of 
plaid in front, and another at the back, with long worsted 
tassels hanging beneath. The hair was carefully braided 
round the head, and sometimes fell in long plats on the 
shoulders. Those of the shepherdesses who were mothers, 
carried their infants in small cradles made of hoops, which 
were suspended by a cord round the neck. When the baby 
was to be nursed, the cradle was borne in front j when the 
little innocent was asleep, the cot was placed at the moth- 
er's back, who then resumed her distaff and spindle. 

I was amused by the vigilance with which the shepherd- 
esses, who were generally fine, strong-looking young wo- 
men, with a bland expression of countenance, avoided 
touching, even with the hem of their garments, any of our 
party. Seeing the Jew in the turban and pelisse, they as- 



DANCING BOORS — PARISH PRIEST. 69 

sumed that we had unlawfully crossed the river from the 
opposite shore, and that they would catch the plague, if, Dy 
any misfortune, they had come in contact with us. When- 
ever we approached them, therefore, on the narrow paths, 
they scampered off into the adjacent fields until we passed, 
as if we had been objects of terror. I once unwittingly 
lifted up the coverlet of a little crib, which I found on the 
ground, to peep at the cherub that was nestled beneath it, 
when the mother ran up breathless, and hurried away with 
her burden, as if she imagined that I had intended to make 
a victim of her offspring. 

In the midst of this pastoral scene, the sounds of a violin 
reached our ears, accompanied by shouts of people dan- 
cing. On reaching a clump of trees, we found a rude hut, 
occupied by a number of the labourers who were engaged 
in the works going on upon the bank of the Danube. A 
large fire was blazing before the hut, at which some of the 
men were engaged in roasting kid and frying fish and 
stewing vegetables, while others were dancing to the notes 
of a fiddle, played by a savage-looking fellow, who was 
elevated on a chair. They seemed to have abundance of 
wine, and they invited us to partake of their fare as well as 
of their amusement, with a rough hospitality. The Jew, 
however, as well as the poet, urged me, with certain shrugs 
and looks, to hasten on; as much as to say that our new 
acquaintances were no better than they should be. I must 
say, that when we walked off, some of them did gaze after 
us with a peculiar expression of countenance, indicating 
something like regret that they had not inquired into the 
state of our finances. 

Having walked above three hours, we arrived about sev- 
en o'clock in the evening at Swinich, a wretched-looking 
village, composed of a dozen or two of huts, built in the 
most primitive style. A flight of ruinous stone steps led to 
what I must call, for want of a more appropriate name, the 
auberge of the village, where I found several groups of peo- 
ple assembled. In the principal apartment were two large 
beds, a few rush-bottomed chairs, and wooden stools, a 
stone stove, and a table placed near the wall, over which 
were suspended wax images and little gaudy daubs of the 
virgin, the crucifixion, and some of the saints. The gov- 
ernor of the village, dressed in the blue uniform, was seat- 
ed at one end of the table, drinking wine, which, from its 
colour, as well as its taste, I should have called cider. 

The Greek priest of the parish, Gregory Georgovitch by 

name, was stationed at the other end, drinking from a 

small bottle, without the interposition of a glass, a weak, 

pale spirit, called in that country sleigovitch. The gover- 

26 



70 THE GOVERNOR — GEORGE DEWAR. 

nor was a short, decent-looking kind of a person, a picture 
of good nature, degenerating almost into simplicity, with a 
spice of vanity not altogether unbecoming in the " great 
man" of the village. The priest had the advantage of the 
governor in stature, rivalled him in good humour, and 
seemed excessively anxious to show himself greatly supe- 
rior to his companion in intelligence. For the usual sacer- 
dotal hat, he substituted a small cloth cap ; his beard was 
of the ordinary dignified dimensions, and his dress consist- 
ed of a large white figured waistcoat, loose nankeen trou- 
sers, over which his boots were drawn, and a short man- 
tle. His shirt collar was open, d la Byron. 

The remainder of the company in this " double-bedded" 
room, consisted of the overseer of the works going on up- 
on the Danube, the captain of the patrole which formed the 
police of the country, an officer of the quarantine, an offi- 
cer of the customs, a nondescript with silly face, a little 
girl, and two or three urchins with whom she was playing. 
The priest seemed to have all the talk to himself. No sub- 
ject was started in which he did not take the lead, and with 
which, sooner or later, he did not contrive to mix up a quo- 
tation in bad Latin from a favourite theological author, 
probably the only author in that way with whose works he 
had ever made himself acquainted. He spoke fluently, 
with an air of self-complacency, but at the same time in a 
tone of kindness and hilarity quite patriarchal. Nothing 
in this world seemed to afford the governor so much de- 
light as either to put down the priest in argument, or to wit- 
ness that operation executed by another ; all, however, for 
the sake of amusement. He would sometimes, in the course 
of an attack upon the clergyman's positions, work himself 
up into a simulated passion, until the latter was provoked 
into a real one ; and then, to the great entertainment of his 
official friends, he would suddenly resume his good-humour- 
ed smile, disconcerting all the angry eloquence of his an- 
tagonist. 

I was initiated in the characters and habits of these " vil- 
lage politicians" by an Englishman named George Dewar, 
who made his appearance in the room soon after I entered 
it : he had been already apprized, at the other extremity of 
Swinich, that a countryman of his had arrived at the au- 
berge, and it was so long, he said, since he had heard his 
own language spoken, that he came instantly to see me. 
Dewar was a very intelligent, though humble adventurer in 
the engineering line, who had managed the diving-bell 
which was employed in recovering the treasure sunk near 
the Mexican coast, in consequence of the wreck of the 
Thetis, a few r years ago. He had performed his duties so 



SUPPER. 71 

much to the satisfaction of his employers on that occasion, 
that after having been rated as an able seaman, he was 
strongly recommended to the Count Szechenyi Istvan, 
when that nobleman was in London, as a very useful as- 
sistant, as well for superintending the construction of roads, 
as for working the diving-bell in making excavations which 
were intended to be executed in the rocky parts of the bed of 
the Danube, with a view to remove the obstacles that at pres- 
ent interrupt its entire navigation by steamboats. Dewar 
was delighted to see me ; the sound of my " How do you do ?" 
filled his eyes with tears, it appearing that I was the first 
Englishman whom he had met so far down the Danube, 
where he had been employed for nearly a twelvemonth. 

The poet now joined the circle, and having ordered his 
bottle of wine, made himself as much at home amongst his 
new acquaintances as if he had known them a hundred 
years. He treated the company to a history of his travels, 
which he extended on this occasion to Grand Cairo. His 
audience seemed at a loss to know where Grand Cairo 
was, until the priest enlightened them by declaring that it 
was in Asia. " In Asia !" exclaimed the Moldavian with in- 
describable disdain ; " no such thing : Grand Cairo is in 
Africa." The governor was in raptures at this decided tri- 
umph over the clergyman, who, in order to restore his 
character, inveigled the poet into a theological controversy. 
But to my surprise, and to the great chagrin of the priest, 
and the boundless joy of the governor, the Moldavian 
proved himself quite as well read in theology as he was in 
geography: he repeatedly convicted the priest of entire ig- 
norance of the works with which he had pretended to be 
most familiar, and so merciless was he in following up his 
conquest, by challenging the divine on the more abstruse 
points of doctrine, that the latter literally felt obliged to de- 
camp from the field. The governor shouted with excessive 
mirth, and ordered another bottle, which he compelled the 
poet to drink in addition to his own. 

While this entertainment was going on, there came into 
the room a pretty young woman, who seemed to be well 
known to all the party present. The nondescript above- 
mentioned turned out to be her husband, and Dewar being 
her lodger, she had come to announce to them that their 
supper was ready. Both appeared unwilling to go ; it hav- 
ing been, however, conceded on her part that they might 
return after supper, if they liked, the three took their depart- 
ure ; but not before the governor exacted from the lady a 
promise that she also would make her appearance again, 
and bring with her her guitar. In the mean time I profited 
of the suggestion which the idea, of supper prompted to my 



72 MUSICAL TREAT. 

mind, and laid waste a dish of stewed chicken. The wine 
being, to me at least, undrinkable, I was obliged to have re- 
course to sleigovitch and water. 

In less than half an hour, the lady, the guitar, and her 
friends, rejoined our circle, followed by the priest, who, 
notwithstanding his discomfiture, could not prevail on him- 
self to stay away, and by two or three very fine young men, 
whom I had not seen before. The instrument having been 
tuned, our poet asked permission to look at it, and swept 
his mutilated fingers over the strings with the skill of a pro- 
fessor. The priest looked amazed. After preluding in a 
singularly graceful manner, which captivated the Swini- 
cheans, the tatterdemalion, clearing his voice with a fresh 
bottle of wine, which was voted to him by common accord, 
treated us to " Di tanti palpiti," not only with great taste, 
but in one of the best tenor voices I ever heard. The 
priest exclaimed that he knew not what to think of this fel- 
low, unless he was the devil, for that not only were his tal- 
ents and knowledge universal, but of a degree of excellence 
in every thing, that left him without a rival. 

The lady was quite ashamed to touch the guitar after 
the poet ; nevertheless she was induced to favour the com- 
pany with two or three Wallachian songs, which, after the 
splendid performances we had just heard, lost all the ef- 
fect they might otherwise have produced. One of the 
young men, jealous of the musical character of Swinich, 
next took up the guitar, but after vexing the chords with a 
long series of humbrum tinklings, which he would fain per- 
suade us were Servian melodies, he was reluctantly com- 
pelled, by the unanimous voice of the company, to resign 
the instrument to our Mephistopheles, who showed himself 
still more, even, than before, a perfect master of the art, 
and that too of the very best school. Italian, German, 
Hungarian, and Moldavian airs followed each other in 
rapid succession, and in the most admirable style. The 
fair owner of the guitar remarked, with a charming sim- 
plicity, that she really did not know her own instrument in 
the hands of this enchanter. 

By this time our apartment was crowded. The door 
had been thrown open, and was besieged by a numerous 
group of savage-looking figures, wrapped in their cloaks 
and large hats, who stood staring in upon our musician, 
as if they fully participated in the priest's opinion of his 
unearthly character. And in truth, when I looked at this 
Moldavian — remembered how he had amused his com- 
panions on the deck of the steamer by his anecdotes, his 
poetry, and his dramatic declamations ; the variety of in- 
formation which he afforded to myself during the course 



HOSPITABLE INVITATION. 73 

of the day; his undoubted acquaintance with many coun- 
tries, though he sometimes indulged in exaggeration on that 
subject ; the wandering life he had led ; the offices, some- 
times of trust, and responsibility, and peril, which he had 
fulfilled ; his various acquirements in science, history, and 
the fine arts ; and, to crown all, his musical powers, which 
were of the very first order ; and his ragged, unshaven, 
filthy appearance — I could not help feeling that there was 
a mystery about him, such as perhaps in a former age 
might have procured for him the dangerous honours of a 
magician. 

The scene to which I had been thus suddenly transferred 
from our fishing-boat, was altogether so strange and pic- 
turesque,, that I much regretted my inability to preserve it 
in the form of a sketch. It would have been a congenial 
study for Wilkie. The loosely-boarded floor over our 
heads, with its rude joists; the ladder for ascending to it 
in the corner,, on which four or five chubby wandering ur- 
chins were perched ; the whitewashed walls ; the two im- 
mense beds; the waxen images, and the daubs of sacred 
subjects ; the cherry-tree square table, the lamp burning 
upon it amidst numerous bottles and glasses ; the good- 
humoured, half-simpleton governor; the pompous captain ; 
the shrimp who ruled the quarantine ; the toad of the cus- 
tomhouse, who, whenever the governor laughed, always 
laughed still louder ; the patriarchal-looking priest ; the 
gentle proprietress of the guitar, the English lodger, and 
her unmeaning husband, who looked upon her as the par- 
agon of perfection ; the three stars of Swinich, as those 
young men were called, because they knew Latin ; and 
then our Moldavian sorcerer, who, while he held the guitar, 
presented, in his own person, so inexplicable a combina- 
tion of intellectual affluence with the most sordid external 
poverty ; together with the bandit-looking group looking 
in at the door — furnished a picture of rustic life on the 
Danube, to which the pencil of Wilkie alone could have 
done justice. 

I had engaged one of the two beds for the night, but as 
Dewar's landlady was the "lady patroness" of the village, 
and I for the moment a person of no small distinction, an 
Englishman being looked upon as a kind of god through- 
out all that country, she would not hear of my remaining 
at the inn ; she had, in fact, already prepared her own bed 
for me, as Dewar laughingly said, and as a point of hon- 
our I could not refuse her hospitality. As soon as our 
circle broke up, therefore, I proceeded with my hostess 
and her husband, my countryman, and one of the three 
"stars," who happened to be her nephew, to her mansion. 
26* 7 



74 LATIN HARANGUE. 

• Ascending a large wooden portico by a ladder, we all 
entered the bedchamber together, without any ceremony : 
it was, in fact, the only room in the house, and served 
equally as kitchen, dining-room, drawing-room, lumber- 
room, and dormitory. It had the invaluable recommenda- 
tion of cleanliness, notwithstanding the variety of uses to 
which it was convertible ; and the bed, moreover, to which 
I was most graciously conducted, exhibited a variegated 
quilt, the work of the lady's own hands, and a pair of sheets, 
fragrant as thyme, and white as the falling snow. 

As the night was cold, I spread my cloak on the bed, but 
my hostess, after seeking nn explanation from Dewar of 
precaution on my part, which she felt as a kind of reflec- 
tion on her household propriety, went to a handsome ward- 
robe, which stood at one end of the room, from whose 
ample stores she drew forth a new blanket, the produce, 
also, of her own industry, and substituted it for my cloak, 
which she folded up and put by on a chair. In addition to 
the bed assigned to me, there were two others in the apart- 
ment, one large enough to accommodate at least half-a- 
dozen men, and a small temporary pallet, which the pre- 
siding genius of the place had arranged on chairs for her 
own use. 

I was very well inclined to form a more intimate ac- 
quaintance with my neat nocturnal repository, the more 
especially as I had not enjoyed such a luxury for a whole 
week ; but unfortunately my landlady's learned nephew 
conceived, that it was his duty to entertain me with a long 
harangue in Latin upon the various branches of knowledge 
of which he was master, interspersing the more abstruse 
parts of his oration with Hungarian songs, accompanied 
by himself on the guitar. I, of course, listened to his ad- 
dress with all the gravity I could command, until, taking 
advantage of a momentary absence of our hostess, I 
slipped quietly into bed. My friend had, by that time, ar- 
rived at the botanical department of his lecture, which 
completely closed the curtains of my memory for the night 



COUNT SZECHENYI. 75 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Domestic arrangements — Count Szechenyi — Milanosch — Works on the Danube- 
Picture of industry — Auberge — Rocky scenery — Veterani's cave — Arrival at 
Orsova— My chamber and its ornaments — Bedroom utensils — Hungarian civili- 
zation — Quarantine adventure — Dinner at Count Szechenyi's— Plans for the 
navigation of the Danube— Origin of the enterprise. 

By seven o'clock on the following morning, (October 1,) 
I beheld the three male members of the family emerging 
from their spacious couch, while our hostess was busily 
engaged in preparing coffee for breakfast. My toilet was 
speedily despatched, and a loaf of capital brown bread, a 
brace of new-laid eggs, and a bowl of coffee, pretty well 
prepared me for the toils of the coming day. Dewar had 
begun to teach his kind landlady English. She was al- 
ready as far advanced as " Good morning;" but, by some 
fatality or another, she constantly metamorphosed " Mr. 
Dewar," into " My Dear ;" which had a droll effect, espe- 
cially in the presence of her good-natured husband, who 
was as ignorant of the meaning of the expression as her- 
self. The reader must not draw any scandalous conclu- 
sion from this habitual mistake, for Dewar, a very honest 
and honourable fellow, in his way, assured me that his 
pupil was, in every sense of the word, a pattern of domes- 
tic virtue. He added, that it was the general custom 
throughout that part of the country, to have only one sleep- 
ing-room for all the family, as well as their guests ; and 
that this apparent laxity of discipline, caused by the neces- 
sity of the case, produced a sort of chivalrous feeling, which 
condemned to infamy any person guilty of the slightest 
disrespect towards the conjugal relations. He seemed 
strongly attached, not only to the family with which he 
resided, but to the people in general, amongst whom he 
was pursuing his avocations ; he had never experienced 
so much friendship, he said, in any part of the world, as 
they showed him on every possible occasion ; and nothing, 
he added, but the pleasure which he derived from that cir- 
cumstance, could have induced him to remain where he 
was. 

Dewar spoke also of the Count Szechenyi in the most 
enthusiastic terms, describing him as a Hungarian mag- 
nate of ample fortune, who devoted himself exclusively to 
the regeneration of his country. It was with the sole view 
of collecting information, which he might afterwards ap- 
ply to her benefit, that he had frequently visited England, 
France, and other parts of Europe. He was in the bloom 
of life ; had served in the army ; was a leading member 



76 MILANOSCH. 

of the diet, over which his talents, his superior acquire- 
ments, and his disinterested patriotism, gave him great 
influence ; was constantly occupied in designing plans for 
the welfare of Hungary ; remained a bachelor, in order 
that he might be more at liberty to travel about for the 
purpose of carrying those plans into execution ; and was 
now actively engaged in superintending the works going 
on upon the Danube, which were entirely the result of his 
public spirit, and his indefatigable perseverance. I was 
delighted to hear that I should probably meet the Count at 
Orsova, where he possessed a temporary residence. 

The boat, which had arrived in due time at Swinich, 
having been announced as ready for departure, I walked 
down towards the river-side, after making, through " My 
Dear," a small present to our amiable hostess. But I had 
not proceeded many steps, when I was joined by her lady- 
ship, dressed out in her holyday costume, including a gay 
silk cloak, after the London fashion, accompanied by her 
husband and her nephew, also in their best attire. They 
could not think, Dewar said, of allowing me to embark 
without accompanying me to the latest moment; and so 
we all proceeded together through the village. I was 
touched by their kind attentions, and felt that if I were a 
little longer among this simple-hearted, affectionate people, 
like Dewar, I should have cordially esteemed them. Our 
boat put away amidst their repeated adieus ; Dewar looked 
quite downcast : nor did they quit the river-side as long as 
they could see my bark, which a bend in the river at length 
shut out from their view. 

It was a lowering morning : but the neighbouring hills 
lifting their green heads above the surrounding vapours, 
seemed to promise a fine day. The new Servian village 
of Milanosch, on the right bank, nearry opposite to Swinich, 
looked picturesque through the veil of clouds in which it 
was arrayed. A rock on our left, that jutted boldly into 
the river, was crowned by the ruins of three massive round 
towers, which presented a striking resemblance to as many 
enormous sacks of corn. The Danube still preserved its 
course between ranges of lofty hills, wooded, and piled 
behind each other; some hooded in mist; while the sum- 
mits and slopes of the higher ridges shone out in the beams 
of the morning sun. As we advanced, the green hills 
yielded to lofty and precipitous rocks, which rose from the 
water-side in a perpendicular direction, sometimes like 
ramparts, sometimes like huge columns of Cyclopean 
construction. Labourers were busily employed in blowing 
up these masses, whose detonations resounded far and 

wide amonnr fJip mountains. 



PICTURE OF INDUSTRY. 77 

Being desirous of witnessing more closely the mode in 
which the men carried on their operations, I directed our 
patron to put me ashore, where all seemed animation 
and industry. The noise of the mallet and punch, the 
pickaxe and chisel, was heard in all directions. Where 
the rock was perpendicular to the river, a roadway was 
excavated through it only to the height of eighteen or twenty 
feet, leaving the upper strata undisturbed. I confess I did 
not enter some o* these causeways, magnificent though 
they were, without feeling that if any of the tremendous 
piles, which rose in most irregular array above my head, 
had been loosened by the explosions going on on all sides, 
and had obeyed a locomotive fancy, I might have been re- 
duced to powder with the greatest possible expedition. 
Where the face of the rock slanted rapidly from the river, 
the labour of excavation was comparatively limited. Across 
those occasional ravines which sunk beneath the general 
level of the road, bridges or terraces were erected in a 
solid, and, at the same time, an ornamental style, which 
reminded me of old Roman enterprise. 

A whole village of wooden huts occupied a glen, in which 
the families of the artisans and workmen, and the officers 
superintending the operations on the part of the Austrian 
government, were located. Everybody seemed employed 
— washing, drying linen, spinning wool, weaving, prepar- 
ing meat, fowls, vegetables, for dinner, baking bread, 
scouring furniture, or building additional habitations. I 
was delighted by this lively picture of industry, so little 
resembling any thing I had seen since my departure from 
Vienna. An immense eagle, which had been shot the day 
before, was displayed upon a post, with his wings extend- 
ed ; measuring, from tip to tip, full seven feet. Two other 
eagles were on a perch, to which they were chained. 
One of these expanded his noble wings, looked up wistfully 
and proudly at the mountains above him, as if to say, 
" There is my native and proper home — behold, I have the 
means of ascending thither, but am, without any crime, de- 
tained here a prisoner." They were truly regal birds. I 
should have very much preferred to have seen them soar- 
ing in the clouds ; never, I think, having felt before with so 
much acuteness the extent of that injustice of which men 
are guilty, when they destroy or fetter, without any useful 
purpose, the most beautiful specimens of creation. 

One of the Austrian officers, who spoke French, very 
civilly conducted me over the works, and introduced me 
to the auberge of the colony, which occupied a large natu- 
ral cavern in the rock. The roof of the cave was curiously 
composed of several slabs, which met in the centre, spring- 

7* 



78 VETERANl's CAVE. 

ing, like the parts of an artificial arch, from the circumfer- 
ence. This solid construction seemed absolutely neces- 
sary to sustain the pile of rocks, which, above the cavern, 
towered into the heavens, tossed into all sorts of fantastic 
shapes, and threatening every moment to overwhelm the 
busy people at their feet, who, as compared with them, 
looked like so many insects. 

The masses on the opposite side of the river seemed to 
have been thrown into similar confusion, some shooting 
upwards as straight as an arrow, some in a sloping, others 
in a horizontal direction. Wherever I looked around me, 
it appeared as if I had found a mystic portion of the globe, 
which, like the face of Satan, " deep scars of thunder had 
intrenched ;" where Ghaos still held her reign, and none, 
save the Titans of elder time, could hope to dwell in secu- 
rity. But my terrors were reproved by some young sap- 
lings which burst forth from amidst the rocks, spreading 
their graceful branches in the air. Here and there a wild 
flower, too, displayed its blue or coral bell ; the bee mur- 
mured quietly along, the sparrow twittered, the yellow but- 
terfly wandered about, and the spider floated by in his gos- 
samer balloon. 

By this time my Moldavian and Servian friends joined 
me, and pointed out a path by the river- side, leading to a 
very remarkable cave, which is said to have been convert- 
ed into a fortification by the Austrian general Veterani, 
during the war, in the latter part of the seventeenth century, 
against the Turks. He greatly enlarged the original cav- 
ern, which was a natural one, by burning the stone and 
then throwing water upon it, when it easily came away as 
lime. The cavity was divided into several apartments, one 
of which was the general's room, another the powder-mag- 
azine, a third was for provisions, and a fourth ample enough 
to afford accommodation to at least a thousand men. The 
ruins still remain of the redoubts which had been thrown 
up in front of this cavern. We found several names of the 
brave soldiers who had occupied this singular garrison, 
cut in the walls of the cavern, inside ; among them that of 
the chivalrous Veterani himself, who is said to have sus- 
tained his position in the presence of a whole host of artil- 
lery, brought to bear against him from the opposite bank of 
the Danube. While we were within the cavern, a series of ex- 
plosions followed each other in rapid and regular order, so 
strongly resembling the fire of contending armies, that one 
might without any difficulty have imagined that the war 
between the crescent and the cross had not yet concluded. 

Count Veterani was an Italian by birth, and as valiant a 
soldier as ever drew a sword. When Segedin was be- 



VETERANI. 79 

sieged in 1686 by the imperialists, intelligence reached the 
camp that two thousand Turks and a considerable body of 
Tartars were marching to raise the siege, or to force suc- 
cours into the town. Six regiments of horse and foot, with 
some Croats, and a regiment of dragoons, were immediate- 
ly despatched, under the command of Veterani, to oppose 
tneir progress. He marched all night, and having arrived 
at break of day within sight of the enemy, he attacked them 
at once with great resolution, killed great numbers in their 
tents, and took four or five thousand of their horses, with 
all their baggage. 

This action was scarcely over when the count observed 
a great number of Turks passing a bridge, which they had 
laid over the Danube. They were said to have amounted 
to twelve thousand men, and to have been commanded by 
the grand vizier. " The action," says Sir Paul Rycaut, 
" was so bravely performed, that the vanguard of the Turks 
was beaten, and forced to retreat to a place where their in- 
fantry lay under covert, supported by six hundred Janissa- 
ries, with thirty field-pieces, which were discharged with 
terrible fire and smoke upon their enemies. But the Chris- 
tians having received their fire with undaunted constancy 
and courage, they assailed the Turks and Tartars with such 
bravery that they put them to flight. In this last encounter 
above three hundred Janissaries were killed upon the spot, 
all their artillery and baggage taken, with their timbrels, 
which they sound before the pashas, and many colours, 
together with five hundred horse, and two thousand beasts 
of burden, laden with baggage and provisions ; and all this, 
on the Christian side, with the loss only of a hundred foot 
soldiers and about fifty horsemen. After which, Veterani 
returned to the camp, where Te Deum was sung." 

It was some years after this signal action, (1695,) that 
the imperialists marched to meet the Turks, who had pro- 
ceeded towards Transylvania, and had taken Lippa, on the 
Maros, by storm. Veterani was at this time encamped in 
Transylvania, having under his command about six thoiir 
sand five hundred men. He was attacked by the whole 
Turkish army, consisting of nearly sixty thousand men; 
scarcely one of his men survived to tell the story of his de- 
feat : he was himself shot through the body with a musket- 
bullet, his head having been at the same time laid open with 
a cimeter. 

Returning to our bark, we still moved on amidst scenery 
of the most magnificent character, formed by gigantic 
rocks disposed in the most irregular manner, exhibiting an 
infinite variety of shapes, strange and sometimes terrific 
in their appearance, such as might meetly combine for the 



80 ORSOVA. 

creation of a region of enchantment. On the summit of 
one of these craggy mountains an immense isolated pile, 
bleached by the winds and rains of many a winter, looked 
precisely like a Druidical chapel. The dry bed of a torrent 
led from the river-side along the heights towards the tem- 
ple, and groups of hooded pilgrims were seen winding their 
way upwards at each side of the channel in regular proces- 
sion, while here and there scattered figures were emerging 
from among green shrubs, bound for the same destination. 
But the penitents all seemed as if they had been miracu- 
lously petrified in the midst of the solemnities in which they 
were engaged. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon we reluctantly bade 
adieu to these magical regions of the Danube, and came in 
sight of Orsova, which, with its neat white houses, its church 
and spire, looked extremely well at a distance. Several 
Servian fishing-boats were moored near the opposite bank. 
On landing at Orsova we were met by Mr. Popovicz, the 
agent of the Steam Navigation Company, and four or five 
gentlemen, amongst whom I soon distinguished, from the 
respect that was paid to him, the Count Szechenyi. He 
very kindly inquired of me, in excellent English, what sort 
of a voyage we had had ; adding, that he feared it must 
have been an unpleasant one in many respects. I frankly 
answered that I had not found it at all so. Although we 
had certainly been detained beyond our time, nevertheless, 
I had been prepared, in truth, considering the novelty and 
difficulties of the enterprise, for much greater inconve- 
nience than I had actually met with. The Count seemed 
much gratified that I had made allowance for the incom- 
pleteness of the undertaking, and engaged me to dine with 
him on the following day at two o'clock, after which, he 
said, he would take me in his carriage to Gladova, where 
the steamboat of the lower Danube was waiting. He add- 
ed, that it was his intention to proceed as far as Rutchstuk, 
and that he would be happy to have my company on the 
voyage. As the Count, with his friends, were stepping into 
a boat to cross the river, in order to pay his respects to 
Prince Milosch, the Prince of Servia, who was expected to 
arrive in the course of the evening at the opposite village, 
(also called Orsova,) he directed his groom, who spoke 
English, to see me to the inn, and to take care that I should 
be well attended to in every respect 

It will be easily believed that these very friendly atten- 
tions on the part of an individual whom I had never seen 
before, made a strong impression on my feelings; the more 
especially, as the sincere and cordial tone in which the 
Count expressed himself, was rendered still more engaging 



SEBHGOM l)T£NSlLr?. 81 

by that perfect simplicity of manner which bespeaks at 
once the man of the world. The hotel to which his servant 
conducted me w r as a very decent one. I dined satisfac- 
torily on stewed fowl, a favourite dish, it seems, in that 
country, and although my room was quite primeval in its 
appearance and furniture, my bed was unobjectionable. 

Early the next morning, (October 2,) the Count sent to 
inform me, that as the carriages and other portions of the 
steamboat cargo destined for the lower towns on the Dan- 
ube had not yet arrived from MoMava, we should not quit 
Orsova till the following day. I had, therefore, ample time 
to survey my new "domain." My chamber consisted of 
four very plain whitewashed walls, on the ground-floor, 
looking through a window which could boast neither of cur- 
tain, blind, nor shutter, into a large courtyard, at the back 
of the inn. The floor was of deal plank, loosely put to- 
gether, and unhonoured by rug, mat, or carpet, of any de- 
scription. A lookingglass, hoary with age, and cobwebbed, 
was suspended in the oldfashioned slanting position, be- 
tween two coloured old Jack Tar prints of Juno in her car, 
drawn by swans, with a rainbow in the distance, and of 
Cybele in her chariot, to which a lion and a panther were 
yoked. Beneath the wheels a rabbit, a rat, and a mouse, 
were gambolling; and behind her a great camel was star- 
gazing. Her ladyship was about to drive over a pyramid. 
An oldfashioned German stove, a large deal square table, 
three leather-cushioned chairs, the backs and seats of which 
were bound together by great bands of iron, a rough, square 
washhand-stand, in which there was a baking-dish for a 
basin, completed the decorations. The door was large 
enough, in every way, to admit a horse, and the planks of 
which it was composed appeared so hostile to any thing 
like coalition, that the daylight played through every part 
of it. 

I asked for some warm water to shave with. The wait- 
er brought it to me in a dinner-plate I I could not help 
laughing at this extraordinary novelty, and he then brought 
me the kettle. 1 compromised the matter at last for a tum- 
bler, which was rather an improvement on the steamboat, 
where I never could succeed in getting hot water except in 
a teapot ! 

This reminds me of an anecdote which the Count tells 
with the most ludicrous effect, as a proof of the barbarism 
in which his country is yet enveloped. An old lady, a 
friend of his, received a present of porcelain from England, 
including cups, saucers, plates, dishes, and basins of every 
kind, among the rest a bidet. When the latter article was 
examined, nobody belonging to her household could at all 
27 



82 dtJAitANTtNE AfcVENTtfRE. 

make out for what purpose it was destined ; but as it was 
a handsome piece of manufacture, they were resolved that 
it should not be thrown by in a corner. One day the good 
dame invited, as the custom is in Hungary, a very large 
party to dinner, at which the Count and some other noble- 
men who had visited foreign countries were present. To 
the ordinary luxuries of the table was added a roast pig, 
which, to the great amusement of the civilized part of the 
company, was served up in the bidet ! 

After breakfasting on coffee and some remarkably fine 
grapes, I walked out to explore the beauties of Orsova, and 
as fate would have it, my steps were in the first instance 
directed to the mart, where, under a shed divided by a par- 
tition breast-high, the business of traffic was carried on be- 
tween the Hungarians and the Servians, neither being al- 
lowed by the laws of quarantine to come in contact with 
the other. Even the money which passed from the Ser- 
vian side was taken in a pair of tongs, and steeped in a 
cup of vinegar before it reached a Hungarian pocket. From 
the mart I passed on, apparently without having attracted 
the attention of the guard, but when I had gone to a dis- 
tance of about five hundred yards, walking along the bank 
of the Danube, a soldier armed with his firelock, with fixed 
bayonet, was despatched after me. Assuming, for what 
reason I know not, that I had belonged to the Servian par- 
ty, he ordered me back, keeping, however, as wide as pos- 
sible of his game. I went up to inquire the reason of his 
interference with my perambulations, but he pointed his 
bayonet in a way not to be mistaken, which only augment- 
ed my surprise. Upon returning to the guardhouse, my 
new friend, assisted by his officer, endeavoured to make 
me understand that I must take my place among the Ser- 
vians, whereupon the Jew, who happened to come into the 
mart, explained their error, and I acquired my liberty. Had 
they succeeded, by their blundering, in compelling me to 
pass the quarantine boundary, I should have had to spend 
ten days in the Lazaretto at Orsova, before I could proceed 
further on my journey. 

At two o'clock I went to dine with the Count. A rude 
sort of a gate opened to a courtyard through which I pass- 
ed to a staircase, or rather a wide step-ladder, and so on 
to a gallery leading to a suite of rooms genteelly furnish- 
ed. On the table in the Count's sitting apartment. I recog- 
nised as old friends the Edinburgh "and Quarterly Be- 
views, several of our "Annuals," and other English and 
French periodical publications. Besides the Count, a Hun- 
garian magnate ot considerable property was present, who 
coincides in most of the prudent views which the Count 



NAVIGATION OF THE DANUBE. 83 

entertains with reference to the civilization of Hungary. 
Mr. Popovicz was also of the party, as well as a sensible 
young barrister from Pesth, named Tasner, who accompa- 
nied the Count as his secretary. We had an excellent din- 
ner of vermicelli soup, bouilli, haricot mutton, beef ragout, 
roast fowl, and pudding, followed by a dessert of sweet 
cake and grapes. The wines were champaign, and the or- 
dinary white vintage of the country, the best I had yet 
tasted in Hungary." Our conversation at dinner turned 
chiefly on the enterprise in which the Count was engaged, 
and in which all his faculties seemed to have been ab- 
sorbed. 

I collected from what was said, that it was intended to 
construct a road wide enough for carriages, along the 
whole of the left bank of the Danube, and that canals were 
to be formed parallel to the rapids and other rocky pas- 
sages, where the river was liable to be reduced much be- 
low its ordinary level during the summer and autumn. 
These works necessarily required a large expenditure, 
which the returns of the Steam Navigation Company were 
not expected to repay. The Austrian government, there- 
fore, actuated by an impulse of public spirit, which it too 
rarely acknowledges on other subjects, has taken upon it- 
self the entire outlay which these undertakings will require, 
and has, moreover, with peculiar propriety, intrusted to 
Count Szechenyi the superintendence of the whole, as well 
as an unlimited supply of funds, for which he accounts di- 
rectly to the emperor. It is especially understood that a 
certain percentage is secured by the Austrian government 
to the Navigation Company, upon its capital, provided the 
returns should fall below a stated amount: in point of fact, 
the returns have for some time exceeded the amount agreed 
upon, so that the government is not likely to have any fur- 
ther responsibility in that respect. 

The enterprise was originated by the Count, w T ho, at an 
early period of his life, (he is at present about forty-four 
years of age,) plainly perceived the great advantages that 
would accrue to Hungary, if the Danube were rendered 
navigable for steamboats to the Black Sea. Adopting the 
English system for procuring a large capital in small 
shares, he formed a list of subscribers at Presberg, con- 
sisting of magnates, members of the lower chamber of the 
diet, bankers, and merchants, which he brought over to 
this country. Here, also, he obtained a few distinguished 
names, and made himself master of all the details of steam 
navigation. Having ordered the engines for three boats to 
be sent from Birmingham to Trieste, he had the vessels 
built in that port, and then a petition was presented to the 



84 HUNGARIAN REFORMS. 

diet, on behalf of the subscribers, praying its sanction to 
the undertaking. This was the first instance in which the 
diet was called to take into its consideration a measure pe- 
culiar to Hungary in its national character, and involving, 
therefore, consequences of a vast political, as well as com- 
mercial tendency. If the diet took this enterprise under its 
auspices, the popularity and the sense of independence 
which the assembly would thus acquire, might lead to other 
measures still more conducive to the re-establishment of 
the Hungarian nation. Prince Metternich immediately 
sent for Count Szechenyi, whose brother is married to 
a sister of the Prince's wife, and sought explanations of 
this treasonable proceeding! The Count's answer was 
very simple and unequivocal: — " If you have no wish that 
the diet should adopt the petition and act upon it, do the 
thing yourselves ; tor the Danube, at all events, cannot 
be long without steamboats." The hint was taken, the pe- 
tition was cushioned, the plans of the Count were not only 
accepted, but improved on a most magnificent scale, and 
given back to himself for execution. The Count is the 
most distinguished leader of the opposition party in the 
diet, but he took care to have it thoroughly understood that 
though, for the benfit of Hungary, he charged himself with 
the commission offered to him by Prince Metternich, he 
was still free to follow up his political principles in every 
way that he thought advantageous to his country. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Hungarian reforms — Security of property— Orders of nobility — Advantages of 
steam navigation— Reformers — Auxiliary improvements— Club-house— News- 
paper— system of Entails— Censorship. 

After coffee, we rose from the table, and the Count and 
I walked to the Lazaretto, a clean, airy building, about a 
mile from Orsova. As he was about to go to Bucharest, 
and on his return from Wallachia would be obliged to per- 
form quarantine in that edifice, he was desirous of examin- 
ing the apartments which he was destined to occupy. We 
found the establishment in excellent order, clean, healthy, 
and very pleasantly situated. The wife of its medical su- 
perintendent was one of the most beautiful women I had 
ever beheld. She was sitting alone at a window, melan- 
choly as if she were a captive; and indeed, as she observ- 
ed to the Count, how could she be otherwise, exiled as she 
14 



ORDERS OF NOBILITY. 85 

was, in this solitude, from every chance of society? She 
was pale and downcast ; her voice came in touching tones 
from her heart; and though she brightened up a little while 
we were speaking to her at the casement, the unusual lus- 
tre of her black eyes indicated that her health was deeply 
undermined by consumption. She spoke French very well, 
and the Count informed me that she was an intelligent and 
accomplished woman, but that the solitude of the place had 
broken down her spirits. 

In the course of my stay at Orsova I had an opportunity 
of hearing from three or four Hungarian noblemen, who 
were passing through on their way to Pesth, that opinions 
differ very much with respect to the propriety of giving edu- 
cation at present to the people, because, as the country is 
still, and must be for some years, under the feudal system, 
if the people were educated, they would see too plainly the 

Eosition in which they are placed, and w T ould most proba- 
ly seek to attain their liberties by means of a sudden and 
sanguinary revolution. There is no objection to their be- 
ing properly educated as soon as they are fit for that stage 
of improvement, and other things are brought up to its 
level. But it would be necessary first to give knowledge to 
the" nobles, with a view to liberalize their minds, and, 
through their instrumentality, to bring about gradually and 
safely the changes which may be deemed essential to the 
welfare of the whole community. 

In the next place, the reformers are anxious to see secu- 
rity given to the titles of those who acquire property by 
purchase. As the law now stands, or rather in the absence 
of all law, if an individual buy an estate, he may possess it 
for twenty years, and then somebody comes with an old 
piece of parchment in his hand, who says that he has a 
better right to the estate than the purchaser. Litigation 
immediately commences — the suit goes on in the courts for 
years — and both parties probably spend twice the value of the 
property in law proceedings, before the right of ownership 
is decided. Again, when an estate is announced for sale, 
the next neighbour has a privilege of pre-emption. If the 
property be purchased by another person, and it be discov- 
ered after a lapse of thirty, or even forty years, that the 
slightest formality was omitted, in giving the next neigh- 
bour notice of the intended sale, the privilege of pre-emp- 
tion still remains, and he may buy the land, together with 
all the improvements bestowed upon it in the mean time, 
for the price which the occupant had paid. This uncer- 
tainty about titles to property is one of the greatest griev- 
ances of which Hungary has to complain. 

The orders of the nobility also require limitation. At 
27* S 



86 REFORMERS. 

present, the classes of nobles are too numerous, and are 
becoming more so every day; for, if a nobleman have 
fifty sons, they are all as noble as himself. In some few of 
the higher families distinguished as magnates, majorats are 
established by prescription. Some families have as many 
as three or four estates entailed upon each of the sons, and 
by this system their paramount rank and influence has 
been sustained. But, generally speaking, the estate of a 
nobleman of the second and inferior classes is divided, 
upon his death, amongst all his sons ; the result of which 
division is to produce a swarm of pauper nobles, by whom 
the country is literally infested. This indiscriminate de- 
scent of title, and perpetual subdvision of property » it 
not corrected in time, must eventually throw the whole 
fabric of society into confusion ; or rather, they must pre- 
vent that fabric from ever being settled upon a safe founda- 
tion. These two evils cry aloud for amendment. 

Another very serious grievance is. that the laws and law 
proceedings are all framed in the Latin language, which 
prevents the language of Hungary, in itself a copious and 
most expressive dialect, from acquiring all the perfection 
of which it is susceptible. Some years ago, the members 
of the diet all spoke in Latin. Count Szechenyi was the 
first to address the assembly in Hungarian, and most of 
the better informed magnates have since followed his ex- 
ample. 

Hungary will undoubtedly derive great commercial ad- 
vantages from the steam navigation of the Danube; but, 
although enlightened men are not indifferent to that re- 
sult, yet they look upon the enterprise rather with the hope 
of seeing their country derive from it a European position. 
When the people come more in contact with foreign na- 
tions, their emulation will be naturally excited : they will 
be induced to improve their roads, to build bridges, to ex- 
cavate canals, to improve their towns, to give a style to 
their houses and public edifices, and to civiiize their man- 
ners. 

These are the views of prudent and thorough reformers, 
who, avoiding the ordinary clash of interests and preju- 
dices, work upon a comprehensive plan, more for the fu- 
ture than the present, and addressed to the improving in- 
telligence, not to the passions of the people. To check 
every impulse that would lead to precipitate changes, 
which could only be brought about by the effusion of blood, 
and to prepare the minds of men by a slow, but indefeasi- 
ble process, for the blessings of rational freedom, are the 
leading principles of their policy. The Austrian govern- 
ment perceives this clearly, and although Prince Metier- 



CLUB-HOUSES. 87 

nich fears the reformers, there are no men in the imperial 
dominions for whom he entertains a higher respect. Such 
men indeed are amenable to no government jealousies — 
each in his own sphere is a fate that overrules them. 

While, from their familiar acquaintance with the institu- 
tions of most of the countries of Europe, especially with 
those of England, which they admire almost to idolatry, 
the reformers plainly see and lament the numerous defi- 
ciencies by which Hungary is still detained in the back- 
ground of civilization; nevertheless, they are thoroughly 
convinced that fundamental changes must be the work of 
time, if they are to be useful and permanent. They are 
perfectly conversant with the character of their country- 
men, and allow for their ignorance and their prejudices; 
which, however, they never lose an opportunity of rebu- 
king, when they can do so with effect, and without giving 
personal offence. They listen calmly to objections, from 
whatever quarter they proceed, weigh them patiently, ad- 
mit them for what they are worth, and profit by them, if 
they can, in their further proceedings. If an obstacle can- 
not be conquered this year, they are contented to wait un- 
til the principle makes further progress, and a more favour- 
able opportunity may arrive for returning to the subject 
Several influential magnates in the diet are disposed to co- 
incide in these opinions: they are certainly resolved on 
some important alterations ; but they will not attempt to 
carry them into effect until Hungary shall be better pre- 
pared for them than it is at this moment. 

In the mean time, all practicable measures of an auxil- 
iary nature are in progress. For instance, a club has been 
established at Pesth, upon the London system ; of which 
all the magnates, most of the deputies, und of those whom 
we would call the principal gentry, are members. They 
assemble frequently in groups, and freely discuss political 
topics at their club-house, which they call the National Ca- 
sino. The very epithet, ''national/' is nor without its spell 
upon these conversations. The English. German, and 
French reviews, magazines, and newspapers, and popular 
publications of every description, are found in their read- 
ing-room : they have also lectures on the sciences and fine 
arts; and are thus beginning to Europeanize their minds. 
Some time after this club had been established, Prince 
Metternich of course turned his attention to it, jnd felt no 
small alarm when he perceived its natural tendency. He 
required an explanation of its purposes from the Count 
Szechenyi; and upon hearing him, decided that it required 
control. " "If you wish to control it," rejoined the Count, 
"the only way to accomplish your object is to give us a 



S8 SY3TEM OF ENTAILS. 

good subscription, and become one of our members. You 
will then have a vote, and your personal influence will, no 
doubt, have its due effect." The prince took the hint, 
and joined the club, which is now in a flourishing con- 
dition. 

Another of the auxiliary measures of the reformers, so 
characteristic of their admirable sagacity and forecast, as 
well as of the prejudices of the Hungarian nobility, which 
they have to contend against, is the proposed bridge across 
the Danube, to connect Pesth with Buda, which I have al- 
ready mentioned. The steam navigation of the Danube 
will also be a most powerful instrument of civilization : for 
it is quite true that steam and civilization are daily becom- 
ing almost convertible terms. Wherever one of these is 
found, the other cannot be far distant. A newspaper also 
is published at Pesth, and that, too, in the Hungarian lan- 
guage — a prodigious innovation, and one that promises 
important consequences ; for there is no law of censor- 
ship in Hungary; and it is not very likely that the diet 
will sanction any proposition of the kind. There is, be- 
sides, an academy at Pesth, somewhat on the plan of the 
French Institute, which publishes its transactions and pa- 
pers in a quarterly journal. To that journal, as well as to 
the newspaper, the reformers frequently contribute articles, 
written generally for the purpose of correcting some na- 
tional prejudice, or inculcating some wholesome principle 
of legislation. These articles they sign with their names, 
as they are determined to carry on all their plans of im- 
provement in the face of day, and upon the system of 
keeping " within the law," which they perfectly well un- 
derstand. 

Count Szechenyi has written two very elaborate and 
able works: one on credit, with the view of doing away 
altogether the system of entails, in those cases where the 
life-owner of an estate chooses to borrow sums of money 
upon its security. In such cases, the writer contends, that 
if the loan be not repaid before the death of the mortgager, 
the mortgagee should be at liberty to sell so much of the 
estate as may be sufficient to meet the debt. The evils which 
erow out of the presentsystem in Hungary are enormous, as 
the nobles retain so much of the old feudal influence that 
they borrow money in the most reckless manner ; and 
having no more than a life interest to pledge for the funds 
so acquired, the creditor is often defrauded of his just de- 
mand. If the whole estate were liable to it, the younger chil- 
dren would be interested in checking the wild extravagance 
which now prevails in most of the higher noble families ot 
Hungary ; and they would themselves learn betimes the val- 



CENSORSHIP. ' . 89 

lie of economy, without which they never can be truly inde- 
pendent. The Count's second work is of a more miscella- 
neous character — it discusses the various reforms of which 
Hungary stands in need, with a view to the amelioration 
of its institutions, the construction of roads, bridges, and 
canals. He shows, from a careful survey, that the interior 
of the country super abounds in natural wealth, which only 
requires .practicable communications with the frontiers, in 
order to convert it into gold. 

The manner in which one of these books found its way 
to the light is worth mentioning. The Count, by way of 
precaution, although he was aware of there being no legal 
censorship in Hungary, submitted his work to the censor 
appointed by the Austrian government. The censor, in 
the first instance, licensed the publication; but while it 
was going through the press, the eleventh sheet having 
been already printed, an order was issued putting a stop 
to its further progress. By some means or other the sheets 
which were printed, together with the remainder of the 
manuscript, found their way to Leipsic, and back again to 
Pesth in the shape of a neatly printed volume, of which a 
thousand copies were sold before the government knew of its 
arrival J Previously to that event the Count sought in vain 
for an explanation of the reasons upon which the license 
had been withdrawn ; but when the book could no longer 
be suppressed, apology after apology was made for the 
stupid blunder of some of the authorities, which alone had 
been the cause of the delay ! Inquiry was made as to the 
particular officer who had issued the order: but no such 
officer could be found, no such order was in existence, 
and the mystery attending the prohibition of the work 
became just as difficult to be solved as that of its publi- 
cation. 

Another Hungarian magnate had written and printed at 
Pesth a very strong tract indeed in favour of reform. But 
it could only be purchased at Bucharest, whence it returned, 
as if upon the " viewless winds,*' whenever it was ordered. 
These transactions led to the settlement of the fact, that 
there was no law authorizing a censorship in Hungary, 
and the first offspring of this advance in knowledge was 
the establishment of a newspaper. Other newspapers doubt- 
less will follow, and as there are an English manufacturer 
of paper at Pesth, and a type-foundry upon the most im- 
proved system, the press will, in due time, accomplish its 
wonders in that region. 

If the diet could be induced to take upon itself the whole 
of the expenses required for improving the navigation of 
the Danube, such an act would be a virtual declaration of 



90 HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTION. 

independence. I have no doubt that this measure will be 
eventually adopted, and that the day is not distant when 
the crowns of Austria and Hungary must be separated. 
There is at present no indisposition in Hungary to accept 
a king from the imperial family — but he must fix his resi- 
dence at Pesth, and be contented to rule under the control 
of the ancient constitution of the country, which requires 
very few alterations in order to accommodate its provis- 
ions to the modern condition of society. 



CHAPTER X. 



The Hungarian Constitution — The Golden Bull— Privileges of the Nobles — Royal 
Prerogatives — Office of Palatine— Magnates — County Courts — The Free Towns 
—The Diet — Revenues of Hungary — Reformers. 

As the constitution of Hungary is of a character in some 
degree resembling our own, though infinitely more com- 
plicated and aristocratic, a brief description of it maybe 
acceptable to the reader. When the Magyars originally 
settled in Hungary, towards the close of the ninth century, 
they were ruled by an oligarchy, which acknowledged as 
its chief the renowned Arpad. His descendants succeeded 
to his chieftaincy, under the title of dukes, for upwards of 
a century, until the zeal of Stephen, surnamed the Holy, 
for the propagation of Christianity, won the favour of the 
Pope, who presented him with a crown and a cross, and 
declared him the king and apostle o*f Hungary. He as- 
cended the throne, and after having been crowned, he 
successfully directed all his efforts to the establishment of 
the religion which he had introduced. An assembly of the 
nobility and clergy was held at Gran in the year 1016, which 
enacted a code of laws. When Stephen, after a long and 
prosperous career, drew near to the close of his reign, 
having lost his only son, he nominated as his successor a 
nephew by the female line, passing over others nearer to 
the succession, with a degree of authority which seems to 
have been almost absolute. 

At this period the Hungarians were divided into two 
principal classes, those who served the state in person, and 
those who contributed supplies in money or produce. Of 
the first class, there were some who entirely devoted them- 
selves to the service of the state, as officers of the crown, 
and thus became the origin of the order of nobles ; there 






THE GOLDEN BULL. 91 

Were others who rendered to the crown certain specified 
services, and paid also a share of the contributions ; and 
again an inferior class, who, nevertheless, assumed no 
inconsiderable privileges, constituted a species of royal 
guard for the defence of the frontiers, and certain fortresses. 
The latter sort of force may still be seen in several parts 
of Hungary, dressed in the ordinary costume of the peas- 
ants, but uniformly armed with a musket. 

The Crusaders enabled the higher classes of nobles to 
extend their power. While Andreas II. was absent at the 
Holy Wars in the early part of the thirteenth century, they 
framed a charter, which they compelled him upon his re- 
turn to confirm, by what is generally known as the "gold- 
en bull," dated 1222, seven years after the period when 
our own Magna Gharta was obtained. The object of the 
golden bull was purely aristocratic. It relieved the nobles 
from all contributions in money or produce, and imposed 
them exclusively upon the lower orders of the people. In 
Hungary, as in England, the privileges thus extorted gave 
rise to a long series of contests between the sovereign and 
the nobles ; the latter were almost uniformly successful, 
and when the house of Arpad became extinct at the com- 
mencement of the fourteenth century, they elected a foreign 
prince to the throne. The two centuries which followed 
were marked by numerous civil commotions, during which, 
the nobility repressed every effort on the part of the mon- 
arch or the people to abridge their privileges. The descent 
of Soliman upon Hungary in 1526 produced, for the mo- 
ment, union amongst them ; the fatal battle of Mohacs was 
followed by a civil war, which terminated in the establish- 
ment of Ferdinand I. of Austria upon the throne. Since 
that period the Hungarian crown has remained in the Aus- 
trian family, although the right of inheritance was not 
formally acknowledged by the nobles until the year 1687. 

Innovations have been repeatedly attempted by the Aus 
trian sovereigns upon the fundamental articles of the con 
stitution conceded by the golden bull of Andreas II. but 
those efforts gave rise to one commotion after another, 
which united the nobility against the crown for the preser- 
vation of their privileges. Those privileges they have 
jealously and successfully maintained to the present day. 
One of the best authorities on the subject thus sums up the 
principles of the Hungarian constitution : — " Hungary is an 
hereditary, but limited monarchy ; the king has many and 
great rights and prerogatives, more and greater than the 
king of Great Britain. But, at the same time, great and 
numerous are the rights and the privileges of the Hunga- 
rian nobility, who alone, in the language of the state, are 



92 ROYAL PR£RO<*ATlVg'SV 

included under the appellation of the Hungarian people, 
and are distinguished in a peculiar manner from the nobles 
of all other European nations, from the circumstance that 
the seals and grants of their privileges have suffered least 
from the changes of time, and that the characteristic fea- 
tures of these rights now approach nearer than any to 1 
those of the nobles in the days of the crusades." 

The Hungarian constitution, in fact, at the present mo- 
ment, strongly resembles what our own was before the 
period of the Commonwealth, when those democratic modi- 
fications were introduced into it, which have since sup- 
planted most of its ancient feudal characteristics. The 
people, in the meaning which we attach to that term, have 
no privileges, no power of any description in that country. 
The king's authority is limited by the laws, which he can 
neither abrogate not suspend, unless by the consent of the 
states assembled in Diet He is the administrator of the 
laws, and in that capacity exercises the prerogative of 
mercy ; but although he is supposed, as with us, to preside 
in all the courts of justice, he cannot alter the established 
forms of judicature. He nominates to all the dignities of 
the Catholic church, the spiritual sanction being given, of 
course, by the Pope. All important ecclesiastical affairs 
are subject to his control. He appoints the professors in 
the universities and public schools, the endowments of 
which are all at his disposal. He makes war and peace, 
negotiates treaties, receives ambassadors, is absolute chief 
of the army, directs the organization of the military fron- 
tiers, and can levy contributions for the maintenance of 
wars. He may for such purposes also demand the services 
of the nobles, but the grant of these services depends upon 
the discretion of the states. He alone can create nobles, 
and confer titles, privileges, and immunities, or bestow 
charters on free towns. But such towns cannot send 
deputies to the diet until they have obtained its consent. 
The diet is assembled, or prorogued, at the king's pleasure, 
subject to certain fundamental regulations. He presides 
in that body by his representative, proposes the subjects 
for deliberation, and rejects or approves of their de- 
cisions. 

The King, moreover, nominates all civil and military 
officers, with the exception of the Palatine, and the two 
ministers, styled the guardians of the crown. The free 
towns elect their magistrates and council, subject to his 
Majesty's approbation. He is bound to appoint from the 
nobility of Hungary, to all the principal offices of state. 
He coins money ; and is the proprietor of all mines which 
afford the precious metals, and which are usually worked 



MAGNATES. 93 

at his expense. In some instances the administration and 
revenue of the posts belong to the lord of the territory in 
which they are established ; otherwise they are vested in 
the crown. Salt is a royal monopoly ; tobacco is so in 
fact, though not in law, as I have already stated; the he- 
reditary property of nobles who die without issue falls to 
the crown, as well as estates forfeited for treason and other 
high crimes, and all unbequeathed property whatever, that 
of citizens in the free towns and of peasants excepted, which 
goes, in the former case, to the town, and in the latter, to 
the lord of the soil. 

A Hungarian chancery is established at Vienna, consist- 
ing of a chancellor, vice-chancellor, and counsellors, 
through the medium of which the executive authority of the 
King is a^.r/iinistered. But this department acts in concert 
with the council of state, which resides constantly atEuda. 

The office of the palatine is of a peculiar nature. It is 
one of great dignity, as ancient as that of the monarchy 
itself, and invested with more than vice-regal power. The 
person who holds it is protector of the throne during the 
Kings minority ; he is president of the chamber of magnates 
in the diet, and of the council of state; it is his prerogative 
to mediate, when occasion requires, between the sovereign 
and the states; he nominates a vice-palatine, who is chief 
of the military array, or the insurrection, as it is called, of 
the nobles in times of danger. He is also the principal ex 
ecutive magistrate of the county of Pesth. The dignity was 
formerly temporary ; it is now conferred for life. When 
the office becomes vacant, the king presents four candi- 
dates to the diet, who are bound to choose one of the four 
within a year from the occurrence of the vacancy. The 
vice-regal office in Hungary is not necessarily combined 
with that of the Palatine; but it usually is so in point of 
fact. 

After the palatine and vice-palatine, follow in the order 
of dignity, the judge of the royal court, the governor of Cro- 
atia, Dalmatia, and Sciavonia, and the Tavernicus, who 
presides over the court to which all appeals are made 
against the decisions of the magistrates in the royal free 
towns. These officers, together with several others under 
different titles, are called the barons of. the kingdom, in- 
cluding the members of the council of state and the coun- 
cil of seven, whose duties are chiefly of a juridical nature, 
in appeal from the other courts. Next follow the magnates, 
or superior nobles, and the dignitaries of the church, who 
are summoned individually to the diet ; if they are not able 
to attend personally, they have the privilege of sending re- 
presentatives to act for them. The dignity of magnate is 
2S 



£4 COUNTY COURTS. 

acquired from office or inheritance. The barons above 
mentioned are all magnates ex officio ; so also are all the 
chief executive magistrates of the counties ; consisting of 
the palatine, the archbishops of Gran and Eslaw, the chiefs 
of twelve families in which the executive office is heredita- 
ry, and others chosen by the king. The heads of the four 
princely families of Hungary, Esterhazy, Batthyani, Grass- 
alkovitz, and Palfi, of ninety-nine of the families of counts, 
and of eighty-eight of those of barons, are magnates by in- 
heritance, 

Hungary has its county meetings upon a different plan 
from ours, but conducted with the same freedom. The 
chief magistrate of the county, who is called the oberges- 
pann, or sheriff, presides. They are attended by the mag- 
nates, prelates, nobles, and deputies of free towns; and at 
these assemblies are discussed all matters of a public na- 
ture connected with the interests of the country. They 
moreover frame instructions for the persons deputed to the 
diet; promulgate the king's ordinances; elect the officers 
of the district, who are usually appointed every third year; 
assess the contributions which are to be levied on the peas- 
ants, and enact regulations of local police. The county 
court exercises extensive jurisdiction, both in civil and 
criminal matters, as well by original process, as by appeal 
from the courts held by the nobles on their own estates. 

A Hungarian noble is not liable to arrest, except for trea- 
son, or when taken in the act of murder, or robbery. In 
other cases a citation is issued, calling on him to appear; 
until a case of aggravated contempt be made out, force 
cannot be used against him. No person who is not noble 
can obtain justice directly from one who is; if a peasant, 
he can only demand it through his lord; if the citizen of a 
free town, through the magistracy of the town to which he 
belongs. A plebeian who assaults a noble is liable to the 
punishment of death, or to the loss of all his personal and 
real property; the latter, however, he can reclaim for the 
one-tenth of its value. Nobles are, as I have before stated, 
exempt from all taxes and imposts. As the magnates at- 
tend the diet personally, or by their personal representa- 
tive, the county representatives are chosen by the inferior 
nobility. 

The citizens of royal free towns have also certain privi- 
leges; their persons are protected by the law; they must 
be cited before their own courts; they have a right'of ap- 
P e ^ ] t0 ^ e court of Tavernicus, to the septem viral council, 
and to the king. In return for these rights, they must per- 
mit soldiers to be quartered upon them; must furnish a 
certain number of recruits, form part of the insurrection of 



THE DIET. 95 

the nobles, and contribute to the town duties. They are 
exempt from tolls, and are, moreover, eligible to civil and 
military offices. A free town sends its own representative 
to the diet ; it can possess lands and villages with a lord's 
right, and it inherits all the unbequeathed property of the 
citizens. It annually elects its own magistrates, who ad- 
minister justice, and make local regulations. Besides the 
royal free towns, there are certain districts, such as those 
of Jazyga and Cumania, and the six Haiduck towns, Nanas, 
Dorog, Hathay, Varuos-Perts, Boszormeny, and Szobolso, 
which, from peculiar services to monarchs,-have obtained 
the privilege of sending deputies to the diet. 

Besides these, there are eighteen chapters of cathedrals, 
which return two deputies for each to the diet. But al- 
though these deputies, as well as those of the free towns, 
the privileged districts, and the Haiduck towns, have the 
right to sit in the lower chamber, and to deliver their opin- 
ions upon any subject under discussion, none but the coun- 
ty representatives have the privilege of voting. The repre- 
sentative of a magnate does not sit in his principal's place 
in the upper chamber ; he sits in the lower one, where, like 
the deputy of a free town, though he may speak, he has no 
right to vote. 

From the year 1298 to about the year 1526, the diet of 
Hungary was held in the open air, near Pesth. It was then 
a national council rather than a representative assembly, 
and was frequently attended by upwards of 80,000 persons. 
It was subsequently reduced by representation, and re- 
moved into the town. The king may summon it to sit 
either at Presburg or Buda, or in any other town within 
the boundaries of the kingdom. It usually sits at Presburg. 
The law ordains that the diet should be assembled every 
five years. Upon the death of the king, a diet must also 
be called for the coronation of the new sovereign, within 
six months after the demise of his predecessor. The no- 
tices to the members for the holding of a diet are issued 
about six weeks before the day of meeting, and as they spe- 
cify the business on w T hich it is to be occupied, an opportu- 
nity is given for considering these subjects in the mean 
time in the county meetings. The free towns have also 
their meetings for the same purpose. The public expenses 
cf the diet are defrayed by a rate levied in the free towns 
and villages ; the expenses of the deputies are paid by the 
oodies which send them. 

The total number of individuals who usually attend a 
diet is, upon the average, about seven hundred, namely, the 
palatine, two Catholic archbishops, sixteen Diocesan bish- 
ops, ten Titular bishops, one Benedictine prelate, one Pra> 



REVENUE. 



monstratensian prelate, two hundred and forty magnates, 
one legate from Dalmatia, Croatia, and Sclavonia, fifteen 
members of the royal court of justice, two deputies of the 
kingdom of Croatia, thirty-six deputies of chapters, seven 
abbots and provosts, one hundred deputies from the fifty 
counties, eighty deputies from the forty- eight royal free 
towns, two delegates from the districts of Cumania and 
Jazyga, two delegates from the six Haiduck towns, and 
about one hundred and ninety representatives of absent 
magnates and their widows. These members are divided 
into four states*; the first of which includes the high Catho- 
lic clergy; the second, the reich-barons, grafs, and barons; 
the third, the inferior nobles, present by the county repre- 
sentatives j and, fourth, the free towns, present by their dep- 
uties. The members of the diet sit in two separate cham- 
bers, that of the magnates, and that of the representatives. 
The palatine presides in the former; in the latter, the repre- 
sentative of the king, usually the president of the high court 
of justice, which sits during the session of the diet. 

The propositions addressed to the diet for discussion are 
communicated by the king, or his commissioners, to the 
four states, assembled in the royal palace; they are then 
read and discussed in each chamber separately, and such 
modifications are made in them as the chambers may think 
expedient. If the two chambers disagree, a conference is 
held, and the point in dispute is decided by the majority of 
the four states, each state voting according to the majority 
which appears within itself. The proposition so sanctioned 
by the diet is then submitted to the king; if he disapproves 
of it, he sends it back for re-consideration; long negotia- 
tions often follow, the session is protracted to two and three 
years, and after all, the diet may be prorogued or dissolved 
before any thing is settled. Such propositions as are ulti- 
mately agreed to by the diet and sanctioned by the king, 
are arranged in the form of a decree by the chancery; the 
decree is transmitted to the county courts, promulgated by 
these courts, and then becomes law. There are only two 
subjects upon whjch the diet has no power to make any 
regulations — one is the right of succession in the Austrian 
house ; the other is the right of nobles to exemption from 
taxes. 

Hungary yields, in annual revenue, to the crown, about 
three millions sterling, in gross amount, without deducting 
the charges for collection. It arises from crown lards, 
royal privileges, and contributions. The former yield 
about £130,000 per annum, not including the private estates 
of the emperor. The royal privileges, consisting of profits 
upon salt, coinage, mines, the tolls on goods entering Hun- 



REFORMS. 97 

gary, going out of it, and passing through it, fines, income 
of vacant bishoprics, the taxes paid by Jews, and free 
towns, a percentage charged on certain official pensions, 
the contributions of bishoprics and abbies towards the re- 
pair of fortresses, the post, the lottery, the Monti di Pieta, 
or equitable banks for lending money on pledges, and other 
minor sources of revenue, furnish about £2,370,000, and the 
remaining £500,000 are the produce of the annual contribu- 
tion levied upon Hungary. The standing force of Hunga- 
ry consists, in time of peace, of about sixty thousand men. 
* With reference to the reforms required in the Hungarian 
diet, it is clear that it cannot long be deprived of the power 
of originating propositions within itself for discussion and 
legislation. At present petitions may be presented to the 
diet, which may give rise to debate, but upon -which no 
measure can be even proposed without the previous assent 
of the crown. The representatives of magnates ought to 
be excluded from both houses. The deputies from the free 
towns, as well as from the chapters and other bodies, should 
have the right of voting as well as the representatives of 
the counties. 

Moreover, now, as was formerly the case in England, 
some free towns which have greatly declined in popula- 
tion, continue to elect deputies, while other towns, which 
have much augmented their population, are altogether with- 
out the elective franchise. Schedules A and B are much 
wanted in those parts of Hungary ; the right of election re- 
quires to be more extensively diffused, and thus the work 
of reform would be conducted, without any great difficulty, 
to a successful conclusion, inasmuch as a strong spirit of 
freedom exists throughout the country, which is sustained 
by the custom, long established, of holding public meet- 
ings, and also assembling at public dinners, at which 
speeches are made, in every respect after our English fash- 
ion. Indeed, as I have before observed, political topics 
are as openly discussed in Hungary as they are with us; 
and though it can scarcely be said that a press exists as 
yet in that country, nevertheless, it possesses a certain cur- 
rent of public opinion, against which the emperor has no 
means of contending, however disagreeable it may be. 

It is understood that the finances of Austria are in a 
most disordered condition ; so much so, that before long a 
dangerous crisis must arrive, unless measures for averting 
that peril be adopted in time. It will be impossible to ma- 
ture any such measures, still less to carry them into exe- 
cution, so far as Hungary is concerned, without the con- 
currence of the diet, which will then assuredly take ad.yan- 
2S* 9 



98 SYBARITISM. 

tage of its power to incorporate a complete political reform 
with that of the exchequer. 

The imposition of atoll upon all persons, without excep- 
tion, who will pass over the new bridge about to be con- 
structed between Pesth and Buda, is but the commencement 
of the abolition of those unjust privileges which exempt the 
nobility in general from contributing to the taxes. The 
clergy have at present a monopoly of all the means of edu- 
cation. It is intended to put an end to that system ; to estab- 
lish public schools upon the Lancasterian plan, in every par- 
ish of Hungary, which shall be supplied with masters educa- 
ted especially for their duties at Pesth. The administration 
of justice requires also a complete revision, and the wealth 
of the church is supposed very considerably to exceed the 
real wants of a Christian establishment. The magnates 
are disposed to assume a decided part in favour of all these 
reforms, but it cannot be doubted that they will take care 
not to make the people too strong, by widening, beyond 
what they deem to be strictly inevitable, the democratic ba- 
sis of the constitution. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Sybaritism— The Count's pursuits— Hungarian language— Verses on the Vintage 
First appearance of Wallachia— The Iron Gate— Servian Gladova 

Count Szechenyi was so good as to translate for me one or 
two of his articles in the Pesth newspaper, the principal ob- 
ject of which was to reprove and correct the very general 
disposition of his countrymen to Sybaritism. They are in 
general, like the Germans, fond of the pleasures of the ta- 
ble, and extremely indolent. His style of writing is piquant 
and good-humoured, wholly free from pedantry, and his 
admonitions, which are pregnant with good sense, are con 
veyed in a friendly, and even parental tone, which shows 
how deeply this excellent man has the welfare of his native 
land at heart. Personal ambition appeared to me to have 
no share in his motives of action; they seem to spring ex- 
clusively from a fervent, I might almost say a romantic, 
affection for his country. He loves Hungary as a youth 
loves the first mistress of his heart; indeed, he familiarly 
calls his country his " wife," and he looks upon all its in- 
habitants as his children. He is perfectly aware that na- 
tions never profit by historical experience, that they must 
purchase it by a series of trials for themselves ; at the same 



VERSES ON THE VINTAGE. 99 

time he labours incessantly, by his writings, to diffuse 
amongst his countrymen the ample treasures of informa 
tion which he has collected during his travels, and a regu- 
lar course of study directed entirely towards that object. 

The Count, as I have said, is now in the bloom of life ; 
yet I regret to add that his health is occasionally interrupted, 
I sincerely trust not yet undermined, by some inexplicable 
derangement of the digestive organs. When not affected 
particularly by this malady, which is of a periodical char- 
acter, he appears to be a vigorous, strong-bodied, active, 
indefatigable country gentleman; fond of rural sports in 
the season ; a capital shot, and an excellent horseman. He 
is of the middle stature, of a good military figure, and a 
most intelligent and engaging countenance. His manners 
are those of a perfectly well-bred gentleman : indeed, if he 
had not spoken English with somewhat of a foreign accent, 
I should have easily mistaken him for one of my own coun- 
trymen, of that class who, for talent and information, com- 
bined with high birth, possess influence in the House of 
Commons. 

Speaking of the Hungarian language, he observed, that, 
in his opinion, its roots were Turkish. It was an extreme- 
ly difficult language for a foreigner to learn ; but, at the 
same time, peculiarly calculated for the expression of no- 
ble thoughts, as well as for the familiar purposes of socie- 
ty. By his writings, which are all in Hungarian, he has 
given the tone on that subject, in consequence of the emi- 
nent station which he holds from birth and property — and 
from being also the most popular man in the kingdom. 
He showed mean "Annual," with very good embellish- 
ments, and one or two other books, which were printed at 
Pesth, in a style of typography not excelled in any other 
country". 

The remarks of the Count upon the Sybaritism of his 
countrymen, induced me to copy, upon returning to my ho 
tel, the following Latin verses on the vintage, which I 
found in the Pesth newspaper of the 28th of September. 

Dithyrambus in Vindemia horna. 

Gaudeamus igitur, 

Hungari dum sumus ! 
Nam aant vinum copiosum 
Jam in uvis gloriosum 

Almus sol et humus. 



Cselitus vindemia 

Tollit vinitores: 
"Vinum vetus etrbemus; 
"Homo locum praeparemus," 

Clamant potatorea. 



100 THR IRON GATE. 

Semiusti clausimus 

Spatium aestatis; 
Sed autumnus restaurabit 
Debiles et Bacchus dabit 

Novam vim prostratis. 

Gaudeamus igitur, 

Hungari dum sumus, 
Vino patrio et more, 
Jubilantes uno ore, 

Caetera sunt fumus. 

Ft. Hanak. Dr. 

Count Szechenyi had already apprized me of his inten- 
tion to go down the Danube as far as Rutschuk. As we 
were preparing, on the following morning, (October 3,) to 
set out from Orsova, he added, that his object was to land 
at Giurgeva, a Wallachian town, nearly opposite Ruts- 
chuk, and thence to proceed to Bucharest, in order to ob- 
tain the sanction of the Hospodar, for the improvements 
which were meditated in the bed and on the banks of the 
river within his principality. I took my seat with the Count 
in his phaeton, and we were followed by another carriage, 
occupied by his secretary, Mr. Tasner. Our road by the 
side of the river was scarcely practicable for such vehicles, 
as frequently we had to be drawn over narrow abrupt 
rocks, which, sloping towards the Danube, afforded the 
agreeable prospect of a cold bath, as well as of fractured 
limbs, in case of a break down. In an hour after quitting 
Orsova we passed the frontier of Wallachia, where, if we 
were to judge from first appearances, misery seemed to 
have taken up her favourite abode. The cabins of the 
poor people were constructed of hurdles, not defended, 
even by the addition of mud on the inside, from wind and 
rain. Crowds of children appeared at the doors, literally 
naked, in company with pigs and goats, dogs, cocks and 
hens, and ducks, as if all were of the same order of exist- 
ence. Some of these wretched habitations were altogether 
under ground. 

We soon arrived at the commencement of the celebrated 
" Iron Gate" of the Danube. It is a series of rapids, so called 
from the extreme difficulty ofpassingthem, and also probably 
from the almost impenetrable nature and ferruginous colour 
of the rocks, which form the entire bed of the river, to the dis- 
tance of nearly three miles. These rocks, though so long 
washed by the torrent, are still as rough as when the river 
first found or forced its way amongst them. They are in 
large masses, tumbled about in every sort of shape and po 
sition, and now that they were completely exposed to view, 
in consequence of the depression of the river, they looked 
terrific j the gaping jaws, as it were, of some infernal mon- 
14 



THE IRON GATE. 101 

ster. When the Danube is at its ordinary height, replen- 
ished by its usual tributaries, the roar of its waters in hur- 
rying through the " Iron Gate," is borne on the winds for 
many miles around, like the sound of continued peals of 
thunder. 

The present state of the river was taken advantage of by 
the engineers, for the purpose of making an accurate sur- 
vey of the channel, or rather of the three channels which 
the rocks form in this part of the Danube. One on the 
Wallachian side, which is never used ; one in the centre, 
which is of considerable width ; and one on the Servian 
side, which, in the state the river was when I saw it, would 
scarcely allow a craft drawing a single foot of water to 
pass. The current is here extremely rapid, running at a 
rate of not less than eight miles an hour. The barges up- 
on the upper Danube, as all that part of the river is called 
from the "Iron Gate" towards its source, are generally of 
the burden of about five hundred tons. These vessels 
sometimes descend through the middle channel of the 
Cherdaps, as all this rocky part of the river is named ; but 
they can never re-ascend, because the channels near the 
banks are too narrow, and the middle one too rapid. 
Hence the commerce between the higher and lower por- 
tions of the Danube is maintained by smaller craft, which 
seldom exceed two hundred and fifty tons. 

A writer of great ability and information, who has paid 
some attention to the navigation of the Danube, and to 
whom I am indebted for an ample and flattering notice, in 
the Quarterly Review, (No. 108,) of the first edition of this 
work, has introduced into his article the following interest- 
ing and valuable remarks : ' 

" Except the rapidity, not the shallowness of the current, 
the Cherdaps are the only obstruction to the navigation of 
the Danube between Kolubatz — where the river enters the 
mountains from the plains of Hungary — to Fetislam, just 
above Trajan's bridge, where it again emerges from the 
mountains into the plains of Wallachia and Bulgaria. In 
this district, however, it is absolutely necessary to tow the 
vessels ascending the stream by a tracking-path ; the wind- 
ings of the river, and the absence of roads along the sides, 
necessitate a repeated change of bank, so that the vessels 
are obliged, after having made one point on one bank, to 
cross to the other side; thus, they naturally lose way and 
drop down the stream in their passage — besides having 
to shift their trackers from bank to bank ; nor is this last 
matter a trifle ; — men, of course, have to be used for track- 
ing instead of cattle, and the ascending craft has at times 
to be laden with this live cargo. From twenty to forty 



102 THE IRON GATE. 

people are requisite for tracking a vessel through the moun- 
tains; and eight or ten pairs of oxen are wanted to get it 
through the Cherdaps, where it has often to be unladen and 
reladen. 

"Now here two distinct questions present themselves,— 
the first, the deepening of the channel close to the tracking- 
path at Fetislam, to allow of large vessels returning up- 
wards ; and, secondly, the construction of a tracking-path 
through the mountains, to avoid the difficulties and incon- 
veniences above enumerated, and permit the use of cat- 
tle for towing the vessels. Independently of both these, 
there is the steam navigation of the Danube, and these 
three enterprises remain perfectly distinct, both as to the 
plans, as to the means of execution, and as to the authority 
by which they are undertaken. 

" 1. The first and most important, the deepening of the 
Cherdaps above Fetislam, has not, we believe, yet been 
commenced, nor the plan even fixed upon ; two projects 
have been entertained, the first for blasting the rocks in 
the channel under water, and thus freeing the passage ; 
the second for cutting a canal on the Servian side — but it 
is to be observed, that here neither bank belongs to Aus- 
tria, although in the vicinity she has overreached the Porte 
by obtaining a right to the fishery : she has, therefore, to 
obtain the consent of the Porte, and more particularly of 
the Prince of Servia, to this enterprise on the Servian soil. 
Prince Milosch had in the first instance promised not only 
his consent, but his cooperation ; but it having been sug- 
gested to him that Austria might make use of the influ- 
ence she would thus acquire to the prejudice of the com- 
merce of Turkey, either by the erection of tolls or in some 
other shape, the prince desired from Austria a pledge that 
she would take advantage in no way whatever of this en- 
terprise, or of its consequences, for the introduction of any 
regulation unfavourable to the commerce or navigation of 
the Ottoman provinces— that, in fine, the advantages to 
accrue from this enterprise were to be entirely free and 
common to all nations. Austria was dilatory in returning 
to these demands a categorical reply : but until she does 
so, the prince's zeal in her service will not be very warm ; 
and without his active cooperation the matter cannot be 
arranged. Then, the moment such a demand was made 
officially to the Porte, it became subject to all the condi- 
tions under which such transactions are conducted: doubt, 
suspicion, and delay on the part of the Porte— and the 
interference of Russia in the various modes in which she 
has it in her power to interfere. That interference has 
hitherto been exerted to frustrate the enterprise : and it 



THE IRON GATE. 103 

probably will be so in future, unless the general tone of the 
policy of England, much interested, if it were but commer- 
cially, in this matter, should take such a shape as to make 
Russia pause. 

u 2. The second enterprise is that of the tracking-path 
from the commencement of the mountains and the narrows 
opposite Kolubatz to the frontiers of Wallachia. 

" The Servian side presents much greater facilities for 
such an enterprise; indeed, the Romans had established a 
complete line of path for this same purpose along that 
bank. At the lower portion of the passage the ancient 
corridor is cut in the rock, but at the higher extremity 
huge mortice-holes were let in for the insertion of beams, 
on which the tracking corridor was erected. A large in- 
scription on the face of the rock remains to this day visi- 
ble, and it gives the honour of this — one of the greatest, 
because one of the most useful of the works of Rome — to 
the Emperor Trajan. A recent traveller, whose MSS. 
notes are now in our hands, says — 

" ' Never did I more strongly feel the greatness of that won- 
derful people, than when, on sailing down the Danube, I first 
observed the traces and comprehended the object to which 
this work was destined. Such were the modest, and, wher- 
ever it was called for, scarcely more than useful intentions 
and acts of sixteen centuries ago. Here was the evidence 
of the accomplishment by the Romans, although scarcely 
an indication of it remains in Roman authors, of an enter- 
prise which is now universally admitted to be one of the 
most important for the public welfare of Europe. In that 
chiselling of the rocks of Servia, what proofs are there not 
of commercial circulation and prosperity, and, consequent- 
ly, of the national well-being and individual happiness of a 
former period, which it is the fashion to regard as steril 
in useful fruits, because the habits of our times lead us to 
imagine that prosperity cannot exist without clamour, or 
commerce or industry without libraries of legislation ! 

" ; On looking at the two sides of the river, I immediately 
saw that the Servian was that on which the road should 
have been constructed, even had the Roman relics not 
been there, nor the facilities which the Roman work itself 
still continues to afford. The plan of the Romans-— that is, 
corridors of wood, too, seemed the one best adapted to the 
nature of the country, covered with forests of oak. In fact, 
it appeared to me that the Roman road might be re-estab- 
lished with great ease: the rock having been cut away, 
the restoration of the wood-work would have been neces- 
sary. Servia would easily have supplied the timber ; the 
river would have transported it ; evory Servian wears a 
6 



104 THE IRON GATE. 

hatchet in his belt, and they live under a system similar to 
that which has left so many and such stupendous ruins of 
works destined to public utility in Spain and Hindostan. 5 * 

" This idea was subsequently suggested to Prince Mi- 
losch. It was objected, that as the Servians tracked their 
vessels, several villages lived entirely by that service, and 
the country gained half a million of piastres yearly; but 
he was soon made to perceive that, when the Austrian road 
was completed, horses belonging to the Austrian govern- 
ment would track the vessels. Some accounts have re- 
cently appeared in continental papers of this enterprise 
having been undertaken by the Servians; but we have 
stated all that we know on the subject. 

" 3. The thhd business, perfectly distinct from these two, 
is the application of steam to the navigation of the Danube. 
\V hilst steam is extending to all the great rivers of the 
earth— when boats are building in London for the Eu- 
phrates, the Indus, and the Ganges — when steamers con- 
structed on the Thames visit the Euxine, and have become 
familiar in the windings of the Bosphorus — it cannot be 
surprising that the same power should seek to establish its 
dominion on the central, the largest, the longest, the most 
important river of Europe, and, as it has been termed, its 
main artery. We know that it is navigated from Rahab, 
near Presburg, to Kolubatz, backwards and forwards, by 
immense barges drawing six feet water — that these same 
barges descend to Galatz, although they do not return : we 
further know that barges of different sizes and dimensions, 
drawing from two feet draft, and of eighty tons and up- 
wards, navigate it during its wiiole course from Ulm to the 
sea — bring the produce of the salt-mines of Transylvania 
and Upper Hungary to a large portion of the Austrian do- 
minions — ascend the Drave for the produce of the Styrian 
mines — and by the Save reach Laibach, within three days' 
land carriage of the Adriatic. Upon these facts are formed 
our ideas of the capabilities of the river. Its navigation is 
difficult and dangerous ; its rapids and its shallows, its 
overflowings and its droughts, are all serious obstacles. 
But there is an obstacle much greater than all these; and 
that is, the absence, along its whole banks, of any popula- 
tion, in the slightest degree acquainted with naval archi- 
tecture, or even with the simplest operations of sailing and 

* "We cannot pass this notice of such a relic of the ancient Roman 
sway in these regions, without expressing our regret that no enthusiastic 
scholar, properly so called, has as yet conveyed to Europe at large some 
accurate information as to the actual Latin dialect still retained among 
the peasantry of what once was Dacia. In what are hastily called its 
barbarisms and corruptions, may not most interesting fragments of the 
real old lingua rustica et castrensis be to this moment preserved 1" 



SERVIAN GLADOVA. 105 

rowing. As an instance of this we may state, that the 
Turks, generally speaking, have an aversion to a seafaring 
life, and know nothing of ships or boats ; yet, on the Dan- 
ube, so remarkable is the inferiority of the Germans and 
Hungarians to the Turks, that a vessel with a mast and a 
sail is known at once to be Turkish ! 

"But for the steam navigation of the Danube there was 
another very weighty point to be considered — that of fuel. 
.Wood there was in abundance, but the greater encum- 
brance and difficulties in making use of wood have so far 
been a drawback on the enterprise. The nearest point 
where coals were to be found was (Edenburg, but these 
were of inferior quality. This difficulty was suddenly re- 
moved by the discovery of extensive coal-measures of the 
very finest quality, on the banks of the river itself, just 
within the Austrian dominions, and about the centre of 
that portion of the Danube which is navigable from its 
mouth upwards. Thus favoured, the first steamboat, 
4 Francis the First* its name, was launched in the spring of 
1832; and although laid up during the fair of Pesth, one of 
the principal branches of profit first anticipated, although 
frequently out of order, and though the whole arrange- 
ments might be considered as provisional and experimen- 
tal, — yet, during the summer, a profit of 40 per cent, was 
realized." 

I had noticed on the Servian bank, opposite Veterani's 
Cave, the tablet cut in the face of the rock above alluded 
to, with an inscription upon it which seems to be in good 
preservation, though we were not near enough to read it. 
It records, as the Count informed me, the completion of the 
tracking road on that side of the river, formed by order of 
Trajan. 

We arrived about noon atGladova, where we found the 
Argo steamer waiting for us. But as the carriages and 
general articles of merchandise which had been forwarded 
from Moldava to Orsova had not )^et made their appear- 
ance at the Wallachian station, I was obliged once more to 
draw somewhat liberally on my stock of patience. Here 
were five days already spent in making a journey, for 
which two ought to have been amply sufficient. An excel- 
lent dinner, however, which had been previously ordered 
by the Count, and a bottle of Champaign from a case pro- 
vided by him for our voyage, consoled us for our disap- 
pointment. 

The mornings began to be rather sharp. Nevertheless 

we breakfasted on deck (Oct. 4) on dry toast and coffee ; 

after which, taking with us a quarantine inspector, we 

crossed the river in a small boat to Servian Gladova, which 

29 



106 trajan's bridge. 

is a fortified town of some pretensions. We walked 
through the environs ; our inspector not permitting us to 
enter the interior of the town, unless we were disposed, on 
our return, to take up our abode in the lazaretto. The 
country around seemed remarkable fertile, but it was al- 
most wholly uncultivated. Such of the inhabitants as we 
saw were pictures of indolence — they were mostly dressed 
in the Turkish costume, though many were apparelled in 
the European fashion. We saw only one woman in the 
course of our peregrinations, and she was closely veiled. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Trajan's bridge— Navigable stations on the Danube— Wonders of steam— Speech 
of Prince Milosch— Neighbourhood of Gladova — Wallachian hut— Matrimonial 
speculation — Tea-drinking — Music — Charms of Procrastination — Departure from 
Gladova— Bends in the Danube— Approach to Vidin — Magnates' costume— Visit 
to Hussein Pasha— The pasha's deputy— An interpreter— Explanations— Pleas- 
ure of disguise. 

On our return to the steamer, some discussion arose as 
to the exact site of Trajan's bridge across the Danube, 
which, though recorded in history, had hitherto puzzled 
the commentators ; as, in fact, no trace of that once mag- 
nificent edifice had been seen for many ages. The Count 
suggested that, as the river was now so low, there was a 
chance of our settling the question by a personal examina- 
tion. Accordingly, we proceeded on foot along the Wal- 
lachian shore, until we arrived at the ruins of an ancient 
tower, built on an eminence, which had been evidently 
raised by artificial means. The tower was of Roman con- 
struction, and, as we conjectured that it might have been 
intended as a guard-station for the defence of the bridge, 
we ascended the eminence with no slight feelings of curi- 
os ity. 

Looking down the river, here of no very great width, 
and divided b)' a sandbank, which however cannot be 
perceptible in the ordinary state of the Danube, we dis- 
tinctly observed the water curling over a series of impedi- 
ments extending in a right line from bank to bank. At 
both extremities of this line we perceived on the land the 
remains of square pillars ; and, on approaching the ruin 
on our side, we found it constructed of blocks of stone, 
faced towards the river with Roman tiles, evidently form 
ing the buttress of the first arch of the bridge. In the river 



WONDERS OF STEAM. 107 

itself we counted the remains of six or seven pillars, which 
had manifestly served to sustain as many arches, con- 
necting the bank on which we stood with the opposite one. 
No doubt, therefore, could remain that here was the site of 
Trajan's celebrated bridge, a marvellous work for the 
times in which he lived, considering that it had been con- 
structed on one of the most remote confines of the Roman 
empire. I calculated that these interesting ruins were 
about three English miles from Gladova. 

The Count, who was seldom idle, sat down, upon our 
return to our cabin, and wrote for me, in English, a memo- 
randum of the distances of the navigable stations on the 
Danube, which I here copy. 

German Miles. 

Part. Total. 

From Donau Eschin^en, to Regensburg 50 50 

Regensburg to Vienna 50 100 

Vienna to Pesth 40 140 

Pesth to Peterwardein 60 200 

Peterwardein to Orsova 40 240 

Orsova to Gaiacz 100 340 

Gaiacz to the Black Sea 25 365 

If we add to these items the distance from the mouth of 

the Danube to Constantinople, by the Black Sea, which is 

seventy German miles 70 

then the total distance from Kschingen to Constantinople 

will be four hundred and thirty-five German miles 435 

or about one hundred and fifty-eight miles of English ad- 
measurement. 

As the voyage by steam, however, can only be made 
from Presburg to Constantinople, the distance is reduced 
to about fourteen hundred and forty English miles : which, 
when the steamboat establishment and works on the Danube 
are completed, might be easily traversed in eight days and 
nights. At present, the journey overland from Vienna to 
Constantinople, cannot be made in the ordinary mode of 
travelling within less than three weeks. The new route 
by the Danube will exhibit, therefore, one of the most im- 
portant triumphs over time which the steam-engine has yet 
accomplished. 

The advantages destined to arise out of this great enter- 
prise to Hungary, to Servia, Wallachia, and Bulgaria, and, 
indeed, to all Turkey, are incalculable. Those countries, 
which have hitherto seemed scarcely to belong to Europe, 
will be rapidly brought within the pale of civilization : their 
natural riches, which are inexhaustible, will be multiplied ; 
their productions will be vastly improved ; their institutions 
and laws will be assimilated to those of the most advance* 
nations; and new combinations, not only of physical, but 
also of moral strength, will be created, which may give 



108 SPEECH OF PRINCE MILOSCH. 

birth to important changes in the distribution of political 
power on the continent. In Servia the people have de- 
manded and obtained a constitution from Prince Milosch ; 
the second assembly of the states has been already held 
at Karagozovatz, where, on the 28th of February, 1835, he 
delivered a speech, of which I have procured an accurate 
translation. As this speech exhibits an interesting and 
characteristic picture of the patriarchal condition of that 
principality, and as no copy of it has yet been published, 
I need not apologize for placing it before my readers. 

" Speech pronounced by Prince Milosch, before the General 
Assembly held on the 16lh (28th n. s.) of February, 1835, at 
Karagozovatz in Servia, 

" A year has gone by since we met in greater numbers, 
and on a more important occasion. It was our intention 
when we separated to assemble in great numbers on St. 
George's day, but owing to want of forage we were under 
the necessity of holding only a small re-union some time 
after that epoch. During the summer, as well as the autumn, 
it became impossible "to convoke a national assembly ; 
first, because, in consequence of the extraordinary drought, 
neither water nor hay could be procured ; and secondly, 
because we had not been able to terminate the various re- 
ports to be laid before the general assembly. Even up to 
the present moment it has not been possible to complete 
the census of our population, and ascertain the amount of 
the income drawn from tithes and other sources of revenue. 
It has not been in my power either, within so short a space 
of time, to establish many of the institutions of which I 
yet perceive the urgent necessity. It is but a year since 
Servia has become a state. In laying down the foundation 
of a new one, it is necessary to go slowly to work, to take 
care not to utter even a single syllable which to-morrow, 
perhaps, we shall have to retract, much to the detriment 
of the public interest, and greatly to our own dishonour. 
Centuries have gone by before the different states in the 
world could attain the position in which we at present see 
them. Yet every day their institutions require some alter- 
ation. Such must also be Servia's fate ; Servia cannot, in 
one year, become a state so perfectly administered as to 
be faultless. Many are the peculiarities which yet distin- 
guish the Servian nation. These must be sacrificed to the 
civilization and enlightenment characterizing the nations 
of Europe, before we can aspire to be ranked among them. 
First of all, we do not possess yet amongst us the sufficient 
number of men capable of directing the administration of 
the country, as is the pase in Europe. This has been the 



SPEECH OF PRINCE MILOSCH. 109 

great drawback to the foundation of those institutions 
which it is my wish to establish in our country. 

" On so solemn an occasion as the present, surrounded 
by the dearest members of my family, our metropolitan 
and bishops, the members of the Servian legislative body, 
those of the provincial tribunals, the captains from the dif- 
ferent districts, the elders of the principal commonalties, 
and the high clergy, I appear before you, beloved brethren, 
to recall to your memory the speech I delivered last year 
on St. Tryphon's day, before the General Assembly, and 
w T hich I caused to be printed and distributed among the 
people. In that speech I acquainted you with the de 
sire I had of forming a regular administration ; secondly, 
of assessing taxation in a manner both equitable and sim- 
ple, and at the same time convenient for the treasury ; 
thirdly, of paying the debts of our former bishops, which 
were a great burden on the provinces lately incorporated 
with Servia. I have uninterruptedly, during a year, de- 
voted my attention, both in the council and when consult- 
ing the legislature of our country, to ascertain the admin- 
istrative system best adapted and most advantageous to 
our country, and have come to the firm determination, 
first, to promulgate a statute for Servia, accurately defi- 
ning the rights and duties of the Prince of Servia — the rights 
and duties of Servian magistrates, — as well as those of 
every Servian. This statute shall be read in your pres- 
ence. You will then see that the general national rights 
are the rights which every Servian is to enjoy, — are such 
as humanity demands; that the person of every Servian is 
free ; — that every Servian is master of his property. Obe- 
dience to this statute we must swear, — not only we who 
are now here assembled, but also every one of our breth- 
ren who happens to be absent. We must swear, one to 
the other-; — the prince to the magistrates and people, the 
magistrates to the prince and people, the people to the 
prince and magistrates, — that we consider this statute 
sacred and inviolable as we hold the gospel to be inviola 
ble and sacred,— that we shall not depart an inch from it, 
or alter a single syllable of it, without previously obtaining 
the approval and consent of the whole nation. 

" Secondly, I have resolved to form a council of state, 
constituting the first and highest magistrature in the coun- 
try after me, the prince. It will consist of six ministers, 
each of whom will preside over a department of the ad- 
ministration, and of various privy councillors. The min- 
isters are to draw up reports on affairs, the councillors 
are to examine them, — then authorize acts to be laid be- 
fore me for my approval. Ministers, as well as the com> 
29* 10 



110 SrEECH OF PIUNCE MILOSCH. 

cillors, are responsible to the prince and people for their 
acts, and especially for every abuse they may be guilty of 
in the exercise of their power. 

'•' Thirdly, I have caused our civil and criminal code, to 
the digestion of which four years have been consecrated, 
once more to be revised, improved, and rendered more in- 
telligible. These will be laid before our judges, that they 
may, according to their contents, protect the innocent and 
punish the guilty. Henceforth, every Servian will meet 
with protection and justice, not as formerly, in the opinions 
of the judge, but under the regis of the law. Through sim 
ilar institutions, the internal administration will, I trust, 
become strengthened and connected as by a chain. The 
people will be placed under the elders, the captains, and 
judges; the judges under the council of state; the council 
under the prince, and in contact with the prince ; the prince 
himself under the law, and in constant relation with the 
council. A similar institution will, I hope, act as a curb 
on the arbitrary will of us all in general, and of each of us 
in particular. It is possible, that even in these institutions, 
imperfections may be detected ; they will, in the course 
of time, come to light, and be remedied. Neither my 
judgment, nor the information I am possessed of, nor the 
time I have at my disposal, have sufficed to bring to per- 
fection so important a task, that is, so as to enable me to 
say, c No one will be able to find fault with my work,' or 
'It is the most perfect work upon earth.' 

ci Having thus fulfilled the promise I made, to introduce 
order in the internal administration, I shall beg your at- 
tention to the other important question, mentioned in my 
speech of last year, — namely, How should contributions be 
levied on the people? 

"The Servian nation is placed under the necessity of 
meeting annually the following expenses : The tribute to 
the sultan; the salary of the prince and his family; the 
salaries of persons holding situations under government; 
the salary of bishops ; the expenditure for the maintenance 
of a military force at home for the police, and also for the 
troops on the frontiers ; for post establishments ; for the 
quarantine establishment; for the mission at Constantino 
\))e ; for the agents at different places ; and lastly, expenses 
for unforeseen circumstances. 

"Hitherto, revenues drawn from different sources have 
enabled us to defray the above indispensable expenses ; 
in future, the Servian nation must, as for the past, furnish 
us with the necessary supplies. I have, in concert witn the 
legislative body, endeavoured to find out the means of sat- 
isfying the imperious claims of necessity in the lightest and 



SPEECH OF PRINCE MILOSCH. 11 J 

most equitable manner for the people, and, at the same 
time, the most convenient for our government. We had, 
during the course of last year, several discussions on the 
subject; some entertaining one opinion, others a different 
one. I perceived, at last, that it was preferable to draw up 
an estimate of the expenditure of Servia, and to collect the 
amount directly, and in one sum, from the people. The 
collection of this tax shall be made at two different epochs 
of the year, one half being paid at the feast of St. George, 
23d April, the other at that of St. Demetrius, &th November, 
thus to afford the people time enough in the interval, to col- 
lect the sum requisite before the appointed day. 

"To prevent the people from being hourly teased by 
small indirect contributions, I have established but one 
tax, one of three dollars every six months, from every one ; 
let every one, I say, pay three dollars half-yearly, and thus 
be exempt from paying any thing, whether for poll tax, 
church taxes, matrimony tax, mill and distillery tax, a 
corn tax, and also the tenth on Indian corn, wheat, barley, 
and oats ; the tenth on bee-hives and wine ; and lastly, let 
the people be exempted from all kinds of obligatory ser- 
vice to men in office, except in those cases where govern- 
ment requires labourers for works of public utility ; but 
even in this case, government shall pay wages to every 
man who shall work a whole day. Roads and bridges 
alone shall be constructed at the expense of the different 
villages. Forests and pasture-grounds shall, in future, be 
national property ; the whole nation paying contributions 
for them, it is but fair that the whole nation should enjoy 
the privilege of making use of them. Now, if the people will 
duly weigh the numerous advantages that will arise from 
this new mode of taxation, I trust every one will allow that 
no nation in Europe is more lightly taxed than the Ser- 
vians. 

" It remains to be seen, whether the produce of this tax 
is sufficient for the annual expenses. Our administration 
must now ascertain whether it be so or not. It will be the 
duty of the minister of finances, at the expiration of the 
year, to lay the accounts before me, the council, and the na- 
tional assembly, exhibiting the income as well as the ex- 
penses of government. 

"In order, however, that the assessment of this tax 
may be made in such a manner that the richest, as 
well as the poorest Servian may remain satisfied, I 
lay before you the census of the population, in which the 
number of married, as well as unmarried individuals, is 
marked ; the property of every Servian is also noted down, 
v and of course the elders of every village are aware of the 



112 SPEECH OF FRINCE MILOSCH. 

amount of each man's tithes. It is according to this list, 
and to each man's income, that the assessment of this tax 
is to take place. To decide what portion of this tax each 
individual has to pay, is neither my business nor govern- 
ment's ; this is to be determined by the elders of each mu- 
nicipality. They should examine this list, compare the 
amount of the tithes paid by each person, and, in concert 
with the captains and judges of his district, make the as- 
sessment of this tax in such a manner as not to give to the 
poor motives for accusing them of partiality. 

" These words I address to you. Brethren and Gentle- 
men, and request you will let me hear, or communicate 
in writing, your undisguised and unanimous opinion on the 
subject, in order to enable me to ascertain whether you ap- 
prove of the institutions I have alluded to — whether you 
agree with me on the amount of taxation, as well as on the 
mode of levying it. Let me hear your opinion, now that 
you are assembled, and after having sworn to-day the stat- 
utes, choose amongst you the most capable individuals, 
and invest them with full powers to act as your representa- 
tives here, so as to enable me to act in concert with them 
and the council of state. These persons will afterwards re- 
turn to their homes and acquaint you with the result of our 
combined labours. Chosen by yourselves, these persons 
will be your deputies ; and those whose representatives 
they are, must provide for their entertainment; they will 
assist at every meeting, in order to examine the accounts, 
and communicate information to the people on the subject. 

" So considerable a re-union of men as the present one, 
cannot, owing to the expense it occasions, take place an- 
nually ; but Deputies of the People, such as I propose to 
you, exist in other countries, and are equally necessary in 
our own." 

Soon after this speech w r as pronounced, Prince Milosch 
was summoned to Constantinople, where, it is understood, 
in obedience to Russian influence, he has been obliged to 
pledge himself to modify his constitution, so as to render 
its elements less democratic. Thus, preparations are in 
progress throughout all that region for great changes; and 
communications between Vienna by the Danube, the 
Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and London, are on the 
eve of completion, which will afford the merchant, the 
politician, or the summer traveller, the opportunity of visit- 
ing most of the principal cities of Europe, within the brief 
period of two or three months — a tour upon which, hither- 
to, no person could think of entering who had not at least 
a full year at his disoosal. Such are some of the miracles 
of the age of steam J 



WALLACHIAN HUT. 113 

The country around Gladova presents a picturesque 
succession of hills, which, sloping gradually towards the 
Danube, open their bosoms to the southern sun. At pres- 
ent they are scarcely cultivated, but it can hardly be doubt- 
ed that in a few years they will be converted into vine- 
yards, for which the soil is well adapted. The Count look- 
ed forward with singular pleasure to the improvements 
which his efforts were calculated to produce in all the 
countries washed by his native river. 

We were invited in the evening to take tea with the mili- 
tary, or rather the quarantine, commandant of the place. 
As we quitted our boat the day had just closed. There 
was a golden hue along the verge of the horizon towards 
the east, and the new moon appeared, in the transparent 
sky of Servia, a delicate crescent of silver. I had never 
before beheld our satellite at so early a period of its month- 
ly course. It seemed to have but that moment received 
on its mountain tops the first rays of the sun. I no longer 
wondered that it should have been adopted as a national 
ensign in that country: seen, as I then saw it, suspended 
like the bow of an angel in the heavens, it was an object al- 
most for adoration. 

Our host, a Wallachian officer in blue uniform, was a 
well-looking young man, full of good nature. His house, 
or rather his hut, was constructed of hurdle, plastered on 
both sides with mud, and on the inside whitewashed, the 
walls betraying all the irregularities of the wicker-work. 
The fiat roof was in the same style. His bed, a mattress, 
which lay in one corner, raised a few feet from the ground, 
was the common sofa. His chamber boasted of two ta- 
bles, on one of which his museum and toilet were estab- 
lished, consisting of heads and amber mouthpieces ot 
Turkish pipes, a silver bell, a pair of scissors, a snuff-box, 
a musical box, a dressing-case, a huge silver watch, a pen- 
knife, a smeliing-bottle, and a pot of pomatum; all enshrin- 
ed beneath a brown gauze veil. On the wall, a gay rug, 
exhibiting in the middle a Mameluke holding a hound in 
the leash, was suspended, and within this compartment 
were tastefully displayed his sword, gun, cartouche-box, 
powder-horn, ataghan, belt, and epaulets. 

Our party was soon increased by one of our friend's 
brother officers, an ill-looking guest with one eye, who was 
accompanied by a great, fat, ugly woman, without a tooth 
in her head, dressed out in all her finery of '• tinsel and 
brocade." Though not young, it was apparent that she 
had won the heart of her attendant, who, having found fix* 
her a chair, placed himself on a stool at her feet, holding 
her brawny hand in his, which he frequently kissed, I 

10* 



114 DEPARTURE FROM GLADOVA. 

learned afterwards, that she was very rich, and that hear- 
ing of the establishment of the steamboat, she removed 
from the interior of the country to Gladova, with a view to 
look out for a husband. She appeared to be on the high- 
way to success. 

We had tea in tumbler glasses, mixed with milk and rum, 
which, as the evening was cold, we unanimously pro- 
nounced excellent. The musical box in the mean time 
was wound up, and afforded the lovers a treat. The Count 
entered into the spirit of the scene with the most playful 
good humour, exhibiting that unaffected condescension, 
that happy power of placing himself upon an equality with 
those around him, without at the same time impairing the 
natural dignity of his manner, which have procured for 
him unrivalled influence amongst his own countrymen. 
We finished the night in our cabin with a rubber of whist, 
the count taking "dumby" against Mr. Tasner and myself. 

Morning came again, (October 5,) but still no sign of the 
carriages or merchandise for which we were waiting. 
We were all really provoked by this protracted delay, which 
seemed unaccountable, as we had received intelligence of 
their arrival at Orsova. The Count, having procured a 
horse, said he would ride on as far as the " Iron Gate," ho- 
ping to meet the caravan on the way. He hoped in vain, and 
rode on to Orsova, where he found the oxen and men en- 
gaged for the purpose, all asleep ! He set about putting 
the oxen to the cars himself, and remained until he saw 
the whole team on the road. The laziness of these Walla- 
chians in indomitable. They would have remained at Or- 
sova for a week, without thinking of moving, if the Count 
had not luckily paid them a visit. 

Our cargo having been once more arranged on board, 
we most willingly took our departure from Gladova at noon 
the next day. The Danube being extremely low, we were 
obliged to proceed at a cautious pace until after we passed 
Trajan's bridge, where the water became deeper. The 
Count pointed out to me the tops of the higher range of the 
Balkan mountains, which appeared at a great distance, 
like a blue vapour in the sky. The country on each side 
of the river seemed w T holly uncultivated ; it was composed 
of gently swelling hills, which, when subjected to the 
plough, will doubtless abundantly repay the toil of the hus- 
bandman. The grass was parched by the long-continued 
drought, which had scarcely been interrupted by more than 
partial showers during the preceding seven or eight months. 
In spring, those hills, clothed in fresh verdure," must look 
beautiful, Naked and desolate eyen as they then appear- 



APPROACH TO VI DIN. lib 

©d, every bend of the Danube, and the bends were innu- 
merable, opened a new and ever-varying prospect. 

The Wallachian bank, exposed to all the fervour of the 
noonday sun, appeared peculiarly destined for the vintage. 
But the whole of that country had been so long distracted 
by anarchy, that the people who had fled to Hungary, are 
only now beginning to return. Their cottages are still 
constructed in the most simple and temporary style, be- 
cause they do not fee] assured of the continuance of that 
domestic peace, which happily they now enjoy. When 
the population increase — when their habitations are im- 
proved — when their industry is encouraged by the influ- 
ence of order and the laws, and they feel themselves pro- 
tected from the spoliation of marauding armies — they will 
be enabled, with the assistance of a few years, to convert 
the w 7 hole of that region into a Paradise. The Servian 
territory, also, on our right, seemed capable of great 
things. The soil looked rich and crumbling ; nor was 
beauty of scenery wanting to its other attractions. 

Some hours after leaving Orsova, such is the extraordi- 
nary manner in which the Danube winds in its course, that 
it actually retrogrades towards Moldava, and I came again 
in sight of the mountains through which I had passed in the 
fishing-boat. These mountains stretch across the north- 
east angle of Servia, where they form a cluster like the Ap- 
penines, and partly divide that principality from Bulgaria. 
We stopped for the night at Vervo. 

Having resumed our voyage at the daw r n, (October 7,) 
we arrived early at Kalefat, where we took on board three 
Wallachian officers of the quarantine, as the Count intend- 
ed to pay a visit to the Pasha of Vidin. The redoubts still 
remain here which were thrown up by the Turks during 
the late war with Russia, and in the neighbourhood -of 
which a severe engagement took place. The Russians are 
supposed to have lost eight thousand men on that occasion, 
although in their report of the battle they took no note of 
the slain. The important city of Vidin, in Bulgaria, exhib- 
ited at this point a very imposing aspect. I counted twen- 
ty minarets shooting up their whitened spires above the 
domes of the mosques, and amidst the tall cypresses, which 
are found in almost every Turkish town. Several troops 
of infantry were encamped on a plain in the neighbour- 
hood: the activity which prevailed about their tents, and 
the marching and countermarching of divisions in order 
of battle, informed us that they we*- under review at that 
moment by the Pasha. The regiments seemed well accou- 
tred, and thoroughly conversant with the evolutions which 
they had to perform. 



116 VISIT TO HUSSEIN PASHA 

As we approached Vidin, the scene became extremely 
animated and picturesque. Numerous boats were gliding 
up and down the river, between the town and the camp, or 
stationed near the bank, where crowds of the inhabitants, 
including a large proportion of females, were collected in 
order to see the steamboat. Two or three groups of la- 
dies, who appeared to be persons of distinction, as I con- 
cluded, from the respect which was paid to them, as well 
as from their snow-white lawn veils, and their long green 
and scarlet cloth pelisses, were seated apart from the mul- 
titude. They had no male attendant with them, and they 
occasionally rose and walked about, as if to show that they 
were under no sort of restraint. 

The count having obtained permission from the Turkish 
authorities to go ashore, exchanged his ordinary dress for 
the court costume of a Hungarian magnate, which is pecu- 
liarly splendid and becoming. It resembles the uniform of 
an officer of the hussars, with the exception that the jacket, 
as well as the short mantle, are of purple velvet. The 
Count's sword and sword-belt, with its large gold clasp, 
were magnificent. He wore, moreover, the gold key, as 
chamberlain to the emperor, and three or four Austrian 
collars and orders. He had the goodness to invite Mr. 
Tasner and myself to accompany him on his visit; the 
former had already a character as his secretary, and as it 
was necessary for me to comply so far with Turkish cus- 
toms as to appear also a member of the Count's travelling 
suite, I became, for the hour, his physician! 

The Pasha, to whom we were about to pay our respects, 
was the celebrated Hussein, who had so bravely defended 
Shumla against the Russian army in the last war. He is 
known to be the best soldier, and one of the most able men 
iix uie Ottoman empire ; but having failed in the expedition 
to Syria, where he was twice beaten by Ibrahim, he was 
recalled in disgrace. His enemies at the Porte strenuously 
exerted themselves to have him introduced to the acquaint- 
ance of the eunuch who has possession of the bowstring; 
but the sultan respected the talents of Hussein, and never 
doubted his fidelity. Had he remained at Constantinople, 
ne would have probably regained his former ascendancy 
in the state: he was therefore exiled, with the extraordi- 
nary rank, however, of Field-marshal, to the Pashalic of 
Vidin, where he endeavours to forget his reverse of for- 
tune in his exertions to form a few regiments who are in- 
tended to be models of discipline to the whole army.* Hus- 

* " Mr. Quin does not tell us where he picked up this information. Hus- 
sein Pasha was, in fact, removed from the command beqause he had 



AN INTERPRETER. 117 

sein is a sincere patriot — a thorough hater of Russia; and 
there is no doubt that if a revolution were to occur at the 
capital, threatening a change of dynasty, he would be found 
a formidable champion of the Mahomedan cause. 

Upon landing with our quarantine attendants, we were 
conducted through an immense crowd of the people on 
shore, who received us with every possible degree of civil- 
ity, to the pasha's palace, which is just at the entrance to 
the town. Ascending an open staircase, we were shown, 
in the first instance, to a large balcony which commanded 
a fine view of the river. Here we found the pasha's chief 
officer sitting in state in the usual Turkish fashion, on a 
wooden sofa, which was covered with a carpet. He had 
two or three pillows to support his back, was smoking a 
long pipe with an ordinary amber mouthpiece, and was 
surrounded by eight or ten domestics, some of whom were 
most wretchedly attired in the Greek or European dress, 
barefooted, arid wearing on their heads the red Greek cap, 
which, in fact, is like a red cloth nightcap with a blue silk 
tassel at the top, and to my mind peculiarly unbecoming. 

The Count had forgotten to provide an interpreter. The 
embarrassment, therefore, may be easily conceived, w r hich 
was felt by both parties, when the vice-governor could not 
ask us what we wanted ; and if he did ask any such ques- 
tion, we could make no reply. We examined each other, 
so far as looks could serve, with unfeigned curiosity, and 
resolved that we were mutually in a very ludicrous situa- 
tion ; from which, however, we were, after half an hour's 
delay, fortunately released by the entrance of Hussein's 
physician. 

This man w r as a Florentine by birth ; but he had been 
sent to Turkey at a very early age, to seek his fortune, and 
had now almost wholly forgotten his native language. He 
affected to speak French, and was looked up to by the vice- 
regal court of Vidin as a linguist of the first order. He was 
dressed in the Greek cap, blue round jacket and trousers, 
gray worsted stockings, and yellow slippers. There was 
a sinister expression in his eye, and a consciousness of 
guilt upon his flushed forehead, as well as in his nervous 
utterance, which warned us at once that we were in the 
presence of an adventurer, who for an adequate considera- 

been unfortunate; and he was, at the same time, deprived of the rank 
of field-marshal ; but there was just as much probability of his head 
being cut off, as there was of Mr. Quin's — and a few months after- 
wards he was named to the pashalic of Vidin, as a concession to the 
Christians in that very precarious and difficult government." Quart. 
Rev. No. 10S, p. 487. [I obtained my information from the pasha's in- 
terpreter.] 

30 



J 18 EXPLANATIONS. 

tion would never refuse the secret exercise of his skill 
against the enemy of his employer. We felt as if we could 
read in his countenance a volume of crime, and we after- 
wards learned from our quarantine companions that our 
suspicions were by no means unfounded. 

The Count explained, in French, that he had come to pay 
his respects to the pasha, upon which we were informed 
that the pasha was not at home ; that he had gone out with 
his favourite son, to review the troops encamped near the 
town, but that he was expected back every moment, as his 
carriage had been sent for him, and a messenger would be 
despatched to hasten his arrival. The physician stood at 
the end of the sofa, covered, as in fact we also were, in 
compliance with the manners of Turkey ; whenever he had 
occasion to speak to the vice-governor, he put his hand to 
his forehead, then to his lips and breast, the established 
mode of giving the salam, which, by the way, constantly 
reminded me of a Roman Catholic makings the sign of the 
cross. Our carpet stools meanwhile were brought from 
the steamboat, in order that we should strictly observe the 
quarantine laws, by not touching any thing capable of com- 
municating the plague. We then sat down, looking at each 
other, as before, for nearly an hour, the silence being now 
and then interrupted by a question addressed to the physi- 
cian by the vice-governor, then interpreted to the Count, 
who gave his answer, which was again interpreted to the 
vice-governor, who nodded his head, looked surprised, and 
again puffed a more than ordinary cloud of smoke from 
his distended cheeks. 

I own I did not feel quite at ease in my medical charac- 
ter. I was apprehensive that the physician would have in- 
terrogated me on professional matters, and would have 
discovered my entire ignorance of the subject; for in truth, 
I had never seriously read a medical book in my life. Luck- 
ily, he avoided every topic of the kind as much as I did, 
and most probably for the very same reason. Pipes and 
coffee were brought, which varied the scene for a moment, 
the attendants taking scrupulous care while they handed 
us the little china cups on a tray, and the long pipes, to 
keep themselves from touching any part of our dress with 
their own habiliments. 



HUSSEIN PASHA 119 



CHAPTER X.II. 

Hussein Pasha — Hussein's son— Group at the interview — Commencement of con- 
versation — Conversation prolonged— Steam expedition — Cool reception — Pasha's 
harem — Boat aground— New delays — Zantiote boat — Adventurous changes — Sep- 
aration—Ionian luxuries— A grave mistake. 

The vice-governor was a fat, sickly-looking man, about 
fifty years of age, and grave even to stupidity. He could 
not hold out his curiosity beyond the ordinary question, 
whence we had come, what we wanted, and whither we 
were going. Having exhausted these topics, he sunk again 
into a sort of Sybarite dreamy torpor, as if the odour of his 
tobacco were the perfume of Paradise. It was certainly 
very fragrant, and his coffee was the best 1 ever tasted. 
The physician was still a young man, but he looked also 
pale, haggard, and nervous. He complained much of the 
air of Vidin, as peculiarly unwholesome ; it was, he said, 
extremely cold, as compared with that of Stamboul, where 
he had lived for thirteen years. The town, and especially 
the palace, were exposed on one side to the vapours of the 
Danube, which here presents an extensive surface to the 
rays of the sun, and on the other to the freezing blasts 
which rush down from the Balkan mountains. He was as- 
suredly much discontented with his lot, and confessed with 
an involuntary pang, which flung a strong expression of 
remorse athwart his forehead, that he had adopted the Ma- 
homedan faith. 

At length the rattle of a carriage was heard driving into 
the courtyard below: it was immediately announced that 
the pasha had returned, and in a few minutes we were sum- 
moned to his presence. Passing through aline of twenty 
or thirty shabby officers, some of whom were dressed in 
turbans and flowered silk pelisses, we entered a large, plain 
saloon, covered with a blue carpet, and containing no other 
furniture except a divan, or bench, hung with yellow dam- 
ask, which extended all round the room, close to the walls. 
In a dark corner, seated in the usual Turkish attitude, was 
Hussein, apparently about fifty-five years old, his face 
deeply marked by the smallpox, swarthy and tremulous, as 
if he had not been unaccustomed to opium. His eye beam- 
ed with the light of superior intelligence experienced in the 
exercise of authority. He wore a dark olive cloth pelisse, 
edged with sable fur, and the red Greek cap, with its blue 
silk tassel. He was smoking when we entered, and con- 
tinued to smoke while we remained. 

On his right hand was seated, also in the Turkish fash- 
ion, his son by his favourite consort, about ten years old, 



120 COMMENCEMENT OF CONVERSATION. 

dressed precisely like his father, beyond all comparison the 
most beautiful boy I ever beheld. A high forehead, dark, 
well defined eyebrows, long black lashes, brilliant hazel 
eyes, downy oval cheeks, glowing with the blush of health, 
lips red as the rose and pregnant with the consciousness 
of high station, but at the same time pensive, combined 
with other features of more than Italian perfection to ex- 
hibit a model for one of Raphael's angels. The contrast 
between this boy and his father will be understood by those 
who have seen the statues of Prudence and Justice in St. 
Peter's at Rome, or who can imagine Winter, furrowed 
by storm and mantled in cloud, coming back to look at 
Spring. 

The tone of Hussein's voice, naturally rough, was evi- 
dently softened by the influence which the presence of this 
lovely youth exercised over him. He desired us, in a very 
kind manner, through the physician, to be seated, our own 
stools having been brought in for that purpose. We formed 
a strange group altogether — the pasha smoking on the di- 
van, his son near him with a small riding whip in his 
hand headed by a silver whistle ; the Count in his Hunga- 
rian costume seated in front of the pasha; Mr. Tasner 
and myself in black, our hats on, seated on the left of the 
Count; the three quarantine officers standing in a line with 
us ; immediately behind the Count, his groom in rich liv- 
ery, and his gamekeeper dressed in "Lincoln green," 
cocked hat and green feathers, each with a double-barrelled 
fowling-piece in his hand, mounted in silver ; and at the 
back of these a train of officers and domestics without ei- 
ther slippers or shoes, their toes peeping through their 
stockings, arrayed in every variety of European and East- 
ern habiliments, extending from the angle occupied by the 
pasha to the door. 

The preliminaries of presentation having been gone 
through, the Count stated, through the Florentine, that as 
he was passing by Vidin on his way to Bucharest, he felt 
it incumbent on him to pay his respects to the pasha ; that 
he was a nobleman of Hungary appointed by the Empe- 
ror of Austria to direct the improvements which were 
necessary to facilitate the navigation of the Danube by 
steamboats from Presburg to the Black Sea, whence they 
might then proceed to Stamboul. The enterprise, when 
completed, would be equally advantageous to Turkey as 
to Hungary, and he availed himself of that opportunity to 
recommend it to the pasha's protection. Hussein bade the 
Count welcome, and said that he was very glad to see him, 
but made no allusion to the enterprise, which he did not 
appear to comprehend. A pause of nearly a quarter of 



8TEAM EXPEDITION. 121 

an hour then ensued, during which we seemed all con' 
scious of being employed in conjecturing how this oppres* 
sive silence was next to be broken. 

At length, the pasha having exhausted his pipe, inquired 
if the emperor was much beloved in Hungary. The Count 
answered in the affirmative, adding that it was impossible 
for any man to know the emperor without esteeming him 
for his great personal virtues. An effort was then made to 
prolong the conversation by an allusion to the relations or 
peace which were now happily established between the 
Turks and the Hungarians, who had been so long engaged 
in hostilities ; but Hussein cut it short by the maxim, that 
it was always better for men to be at peace with each 
other than at war. This truism having been pronounced 
with great self-complacency, and admitted on all hands, a 
second quarter of an hour elapsed in solemn taciturnity 
which was really very embarrassing. 

The assigned period for the generation of another idea 
having been fully accomplished, the pasha delivered him- 
self of an observation, that the emperor had several officers 
of distinguished talent in his service. The Count con- 
firmed the justness of this remark. Silence again resumed 
her wand, and we were all spell-bound. In the meanwhile, 
pipes, with splendid amber mouthpieces, were brought by 
the attendants, and presented to us; after which another 
set of domestics came round with a japanned tray, on 
which sweetmeats were served in glasses. But as it would 
be necessary for us to use silver spoons, which were on the 
tray, and silver is supposed to be a conductor of the plague, 
our quarantine friends interposed and prohibited the lux- 
ury, much to my annoyance, as beside the sweetmeats 
were arranged glasses of sherbet. Hussein smiled, not 
pleased, however, at the scrupulousness of our guards, 
which he "must have felt as a sort of imputation upon his 
country. 

Small China coffee-cups were then brought in upon a 
gold tray; they were turned down, with silver filagree cups 
placed over each. Coffee was next produced in a jap- 
panned pot, and the tray and coffee-pot having been placed 
on the floor by the attendants, one of them presented a 
cup to our chief officer, who, removing it from its silver 
case, filled it with the fragrant beverage, and placed it in 
the Count's hand. In this way Mr. Tasner and I were 
also served. The pasha and his son took some sherbet. 
This ceremony being concluded, the pasha inquired wheth- 
er the steamboat was going to Stamboul. The Count re- 
plied that the steam navigation so far was not yet com 
pkred, but that when another boat which was .daily ex 
30* 11 



122 pasha's harem. 

pected from Trieste, should arrive at Galacz, it would be 
possible to make the voyage from Presburg to Stamboul 
in eight days. This intelligence produced an exclamation 
of surprise from Hussein. His officers and domestics held 
up their hands in amazement. But it was clear that Hus- 
sein was no friend to this sort of expedition, which he 
evidently thought predicted no good for Turkey. 

The Count finding that the interview had already lasted 
long enough, rose, and we took our departure. As we 
came out he gave one of the servants ten gold ducats to be 
distributed amongst them, according to the Turkish cus- 
tom, which permits no person of rank to visit another 
without levying this kind of tax for the benefit of the do- 
mestics. In most cases it forms the only wages they re- 
ceive. The Count had intended to present the two fowl- 
ing pieces to the pasha, but he came away without effecting 
his purpose, as the medical adventurer's interpretation was 
really so loose and blundering, that it would have been 
impossible to have performed the ceremony with that de- 
gree of gracefulness, which would alone have given value 
to the gift. Perhaps, too, the Count felt that his reception 
was cool. 

It was our wish to have walked through Vidin, and to 
have made ourselves acquainted with the features of that 
important town, but our quarantine officers would not hear 
of such a thing. We were even directed to get rid of the 
dust of Vidin on the soles of our boots by dipping them in 
the river. Upon returning to our boat we were therefore 
obliged to content ourselves with all that we could see 
through a telescope of its fortification and mosques, bound- 
ed in the distance by the Balkans. The pasha's harem 
formed a striking object in the scene, but we could discern 
no bright eyes peeping through the lattices by which every 
window was guarded. We were told, indeed, that two 
ladies, dressed in black long cloth pelisses, and closely 
veiled, who stood on the bank of the Danube under the 
harem, were its principal inmates. But beyond this suppo- 
sition, our curiosity was destined to meet no gratification. 

The Waliachian officers dined with us. In the course of 
conversation I learned that the quarantine establishment, 
which gave full employment to the only troops the hospodar 
possessed, was entirely under the control of the Russian 
consul at Bucharest. I took the liberty, therefore, to re- 
mark that our guests were in fact Russian officers much 
more than Waliachian, inasmuch as the regulation of the 
quarantine in any country is the peculiar attribute of sove- 
reign authority. This remark, far from being contested, 
was, on the contrary, immediately acceded to : the gentle- 
o 



NEW DELAYS. 123 

men appeared rather pleased at being recognised as impe- 
rial servants, in which character they also considered the 
hospodar. Indeed, they added, how could any doubt exist 
upon the subject, seeing that the prince, when he was in- 
vested with the office of hospodar by the sultan at Con- 
stantinople, was arrayed in the Russian uaiform ? 

After dinner we proceeded on our voyage ; but found 
the river so shallow, that we stopped for a while, and sent 
out men to sound for a deeper channel. Under their guid- 
ance, and rubbing occasionally over sandbanks, we kept 
on until evening, and stopped for the night at Argugrad. 
On the following morning we again proceeded on our way ; 
but about nine o'clock the boat penetrated a sandbank, 
where it remained as firmly fixed as if it had grown up 
from the bottom of the river. Anticipating an accident of 
this kind, we had brought with us from Argugrad a flat- 
bottomed vessel, for the purpose of lightening the steamer 
of its cargo : but upon sounding the river from bank to 
bank, it was discovered, to our dismay, that even if the 
cargo, boiler, engine and all, were removed, we had not 
the slightest chance of moving beyond the spot, where we 
were fixed as by the spell of an enchanter. We had, 
moreover, the agreeable prospect, about a mile before us, 
of three country boats, laden with " fruit," planted also 
like so many rocks, in the bed of the Danube. 

The paddles of the engine were backed, with the view, 
at all events, of getting the steamer afloat, but they re- 
volved in vain. The boiler was then emptied of its con- 
tents : still she remained imperturbable, Anchors were 
thrown out to shift her from the ground ; but after breaking 
all our ropes, and exhausting every contrivance, we were 
obliged to give up the task in despair. The Count made 
up his mind to remain on board the rest of the day, and, if 
no chance of liberation should offer itself, to send for hor- 
ses to Kalefat, and to proceed by land to Giurgeva and 
Bucharest. He obligingly proposed to take me with him 
in his carriage, saying, that I could have no difficulty in 
crossing from Giurgeva to Rutschuk, were I could procure 
horses for a journey over the Balkans to Constantinople. 
We calculated that it would take a day to go to Kalefat for 
the horses ; a second day, probably, to find them ; a third to 
return, and get the carriages ashore, and that after all it 
was not certain that a carriage road could be found prac- 
ticable as far as Giurgeva, without first going to Bucharest. 
I looked forward with no very pleasant feelings to this de- 
lay, seeing that the season for travelling was rapidly 
drawing to a close. 

Towards evening, while I was walking alone on deck. 



124 SEPARATION. 

impatient of the obstruction which my voyage had encoun- 
tered, an Italian ship carpenter, whom we had taken on 
board at Gladova, came to announce to me that a boat was 
in sight, which he knew to belong to some Zantiotes, with 
whom he had been employed in constructing the two frig- 
ates we had seen at Semendria. The boat, he added, was 
certainly on its way to the Black Sea, where they would 
coast it down to the Bosphorus, and so on by the Helles- 
pont and the Archipelago, to Zante. 

I had already learned from the captain, that beyond 
Rutschuk the banks of the Danube were low, marshy, and 
wholly destitute of interest, especially for one who had 
passed through the splendid scenery between Moldava 
and the Iron Gate. I was informed, moreover, that if 1 
went as far as Silistria, I should have very little chance of 
finding horses there, and would run the risk of being even 
inhospitably treated by the Russians, who might suppose 
that I had some political purpose in view, in paying their 
garrison a visit. I therefore resolved to take a passage in 
the Zantiote boat to Rutschuk. The Italian informed me 
that the men to whom it belonged were perfectly trust 
worthy and civil, and that, as I was an Englishman, and 
in some degree a fellow- subject of theirs, I might depend 
upon the best accommodation they could afford me. 

It was no very welcome change to pass from the com- 
parative luxuries of the steamer — from a good mattress, 
excellent dinners, champaign, and the fascinating society 
of the Count, to an open boat, manned by Greek carpen- 
ters, with whose conversational language I was wholly un- 
acquainted. But my anxiety to "go on," superseded all 
other considerations ; and there was, moreover, an adven- 
turous character about the transition, which was not with- 
out its influence upon a mind fond of examining the phases 
of human character in every shade of society. The Ser- 
vian Jew we had left atVidin; the Moldavian poet had 
been for some days laid up with a nervous fever ; but when 
he heard of my resolution, he crept up on deck, to take 
leave of me. 

As the Zantiote boat— which to me at first appeared like 
a little black speck in the distance— approached, I desired 
the Italian to hail it, and inquire whither they were bound. 
His former companions immediately recognised him, and 
they pulled up within quarantine distance of the steamer. 
They said that they were on their way home ; that they 
had two Turkish passengers; one for Nicopoli, the other 
for Rutschuk ; that they would be very happy to afford me 
a passage, if I would accept it, as far as I pleased, and that 
I might depend upon their utmost attention. The good- 



A GRAVE MISTAKE. 125 

humoured look of these Ionian islanders confirmed me in 
my determination, and I much surprised the Count, who, 
with Mr. Tasner, was busily engaged in writing, when I 
went to communicate to him my plans, and to bid him 
farewell. Though not prepared for so sudden a separation, 
he saw at once that the opportunity of so soon pursuing 
my voyage to Rutschuk ought not to be thrown away, as 
ht! confessed that he was not very certain of being able to 
go overland to Bucharest or Giurgeva. Having already 
made the journey to Constantinople from Semlin, he gave 
me some useful instructions as to the mode in which I 
should proceed, and directed the captain, who was ac- 
quainted with the Wallachian language, to furnish me with 
a letter to the agent of the Steam Navigation Company at 
Rutschuk. 

Having taken leave of my friends, I descended into the 
Ionian boat, and was instantly separated from them by the 
bar of quarantine. The crew of the steamer assembled, 
and cheered us as we departed; and the Count, whose 
kindness to me I shall never forget, waved his handkerchief 
until we were veiled from his view by the increasing dusk 
of the evening. The vessel in which I found myself seated 
was a large, strong, open boat, in which there was a com- 
pany of seven hardy, well-looking men, who occasionally 
relieved each other at the oars and the helm. Three hoops 
were stretched over the centre of the vessel, and over these 
was spread a thick mat, formed of dried reeds, which serv- 
ed as an awning. Beneath this canopy my Turkish fellow- 
passengers were seated on carpets. They received me 
with the utmost civility, and made room for my portman- 
teau and carpet-bag, which I converted into a sofa. Near 
me was a sack of walnuts, which offered no mean apology 
for a pillow. 

My new friends immediately offered me some grapes 
and bread, which I declined, but which reminded me that 
I had committed a grave mistake in not having provided 
myself, for the remainder of the voyage, from the larder of 
the steamboat. One of the crew, who seemed to be their 
captain, opened his chest, and took out of it a large, thick 
blanket, which he wrapped carefully around me. The night 
was cold, and the moon, in its first quarter, gleamed on the 
swarthy faces of my Turkish companions; one of whom, 
a military officer, was an extremely handsome man. The 
stars were all out, and we had so much light that we pur- 
sued our way until ten o'clock, when we stopped for the 
night near a Turkish village. 



126 ZITARA PALANKA. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Zitara Palanka— Turkish hospitality— Interior of a caffine— Mahoniedan devotee- 
Orisons— Race of Tartars— Social variety— Turkish khan— The nargille— Sup- 
p er _ Woman— Seclusion of the sex— Eating in the dark— Visiters astonished— 
A general invasion— Return to the boat— New acquaintances— Niccpoli— Night 
scene. 

Soon after daybreak, (October 9th,) our men were at 
their oars, which they plied with a degree of vigour and 
determination very different indeed from the annoying and 
invincible indolence of my Wallachian acquaintances. The 
morning was sunny and cheerful ; but the banks of the 
Danube no longer presented any scenery worth observa- 
tion. The Balkans had altogether vanished from our view, 
and there was not a hill, or even an eminence of any kind 
to be seen. 

My breakfast consisted of a piece of very excellent brown 
bread, and some dried curds, which I afterwards often 
found in Turkey and Greece, as a substitute for cheese. 
The captain, perceiving that I had brought no provisions 
with me, seemed pleased to perform for me all the duties 
of a host; placing near me a wooden bowl, filled with 
curds, a brown loaf, and a wooden canteen, replenished 
with wine. I preferred, however, the pure element below, 
whenever I had occasion for it. To be sure, this frugal 
fare was a change from the well-served board of the steam- 
er ; but I consoled myself by thinking, that good living was 
not always conducive to health, and that a fast now and 
then is among the best prescriptions which a doctor can 
furnish. 

Towards noon we put in to a Turkish village, which the 
crew called Zitara Palanka. We went ashore to get a sup- 
ply of provisions ; the Turkish officer, who wore the red 
Greek cap, his pistols and ataghan stuck in the silk scarf 
with which his loins were belted, and his long pipe in his 
hand, took me under his protection. The village was a 
small, straggling place, consisting of wooden houses, most 
of which were shops for bread, curds, butchers' meat, soft 
goods, groceries, fruit, rock-salt, dried skins, shoes, boots, 
and slippers. We went to the caffine, or coffee-house, be 
fore which we found three or four Turks sitting on a mat, 
in a rude sort of balcony, the floor of which was slightly 
elevated above the level of the street. They were well- 
looking men, and they received my friend and myself with 
a salam full of good-nature, and at the same time, not with- 
out dignity. 

The pipes were all immediately put into requisition, and 



INTERIOR OF A CAFFINE. 127 

coffee was brought to us in china cups, my only objection 
to which was their minuteness. The beverage was served 
without sugar, the latter being a luxury in which Turkish 
villagers seldom indulge. My friend observed, at once, 
that I did not much relish my coffee in this way, and order- 
ed sugar to be brought. But there was none to be found 
in the caffine, until "mine host" procured some from a 
neighbouring shop. With that addition the coffee was very 
good, and I found three or four cups no unwelcome illus- 
tration of my philosophy of fasting. A considerable store 
of curds, bread, and grapes, was purchased by my milita- 
ry companion, who would not suffer me or any other per- 
son to contribute to the sum which he paid for it, though 
he intended it for the common use of the passengers and 
crew. The grapes were large and well-flavoured, but they 
would have been much better if they had been kept a little 
longer in the sun. I rather pressed a few piastres on my 
friend, as my share of the day's expenses, but he would al- 
low me to pay for nothing, and looked as much as to say, 
"you will offend me if you insist." 

The interior of the caffine consisted of one large room, 
divided by a low railing into three boxes, if I may so call 
them, within which mats were spread. At the side of the 
room, opposite to the door, was the fire-place, arched at 
top, not level with the floor, but raised nearly breast-high, 
for the greater convenience of making coffee. The fire 
was of wood, and on one side a large tin pot held water 
constantly boiling. On the other side was an earthen pot, 
containing roasted coffee reduced to a fine powder by the 
aid of a pestle and mortar. Whenever a cup of coffee was 
ordered, it was prepared in two or three minutes, uniform- 
ly by itself, in a small saucepan. 

A beggar-woman, who shifted herself along the street up- 
on a pair of low crutches, exhibiting a picture of the most 
squalid misery ; three or four ragged boys, and a wild- 
eyed dwarf, came to gaze at me with astonishment, hear- 
ing that I was an Englishman. The village has a mosque, 
with the usual accompaniment of a white minaret, crown- 
ed by a tin spire. It was a wretched building. The road 
through the street was the natural sod, trod into dust and 
hardened by use. With all these symptoms of poverty, 
there appeared everywhere an abundance of all the neces- 
saries of life, and a degree of personal ease, or rather in- 
difference, about the inhabitants, who, by the way, were 
mostly armed in the Turkish fashion, which induced me to 
conclude, that, though so remote from the haunts of civ- 
ilization, even Zitara Palanka was not withqut its share of 



128 KACE OF TARTARS. 

the general happiness bestowed by a benignant Providence 
on mankind. 

We returned to our boat and there being a light breeze 
in our favour, we hoisted a sail. I had a favourable op- 
portunity of observing the practical influence of the Ma- 
homedan faith, in the demeanour of one of my fellow-pas- 
sengers, named Noureddin. who wore a green turban, long 
gray beard and mustaches, a tattered brown cloth pelisse, 
and wide blue trousers, patched all over. I understood 
that he was on his way to Constantinople, intending to ride 
on a donkey from Rutschuk to Varna, whence he would 
proceed by sea to the Bosphorus. After visiting the prin- 
cipal mosques at Stamboul, he was resolved to join one of 
the parties of pilgrims who usually sailed at this season of 
the year for Alexandria, thence to proceed on foot to the 
shrine of the prophet at Mecca. He was therefore a " dev- 
otee ;" and I must confess that I have never seen any 
Christian so constantly, so fervently animated as this Mus- 
sulman was, by the all-absorbing consciousness that he 
lived and moved in the presence and under the immediate 
protection of the great Creator of the universe. 

Noureddin watched for the rising sun, having previously 
spread his carpet (about the size of one of our hearth-rugs) 
on the floor of the boat. Turning his face towards the 
east, he stood wrapped in pious meditation. The momentthe 
sun appeared above the horizon, he knelt down, prostrated 
himself three times, kissed his carpet, and then remaining 
on his knees, said some prayers which were manifestly 
poured out from the fulness of his heart. When these ori- 
sons were concluded, he again thrice prostrated himself, 
kissing his carpet each time. He next rose, and repeated a 
few prayers standing. Then folding up his carpet, he sat 
down and told his beads. 

My military friend, on the contrary, seemed to have no 
thought whatever of religion. Though dressed in the scarlet 
uniform of an officer of rank, and that splendidly too, his pis- 
tols, sword, and ataghan, being richly mounted in gold, and 
his highly ornamented cartouche-box being suspended by a 
cord of gold twist, nevertheless he sometimes smiled at the 
ardour displayed by Noureddin. I afterwards learned that 
he was in fact a Tartar, a race of men who are met with eve- 
rywhere in Turkey, are usually employed in the most con- 
fidential subordinate offices of the state, and are identified 
with the Turks in manners, as well as in religion. But in 
the practices of the prevailing faith, they are cold and negli- 
gent from habit, or rather, perhaps, from their general intelli- 
gence, which has elevated them above the Koran. He dis- 
played in his cincture the, old fashioned brass case for ink. 



TURKISH KHAN. 129 

and pens formed of reeds, which he civilly requested me to 
use instead of my pencil, when he saw me writing notes in 
my journal. He examined my silver tube on the new plan, 
containing lead alone, regulated by a screw, with great 
curiosity. He also looked over my journal, apparently 
wondering how I could make any use of the characters, 
to him wholly unintelligible, with which my pages were 
crowded. 

The scenery of the Danube continued desolate on both 
sides. Occasionally we saw amongst the islands, immense 
flocks of wild ducks and geese, the latter of an extraordi- 
nary size. Our boat proceeded down the current at a very 
fair rate. I dined on bread, curds, and grapes, read for 
some hours, and wrote with my friend's reed and ink the 
paragraph which is now under the eye of my " gentle" critic. 
In the course of the afternoon, Noureddin twice repeated 
his orisons and ablutions, always with the same unaffected 
sincerity of devotion. The captain of the crew, who, 
though their acknowledged master in all things requiring 
regulation, seemed in every other respect upon an entire 
equality with his companions, read to them, while the dis- 
tended sail permitted them to lay up their oars, popular 
fables from a small octavo Romaic Greek book, which ap- 
peared to attract their general attention. Now and then he 
interpolated between the sentences a short commentary of 
his own, which, uttered with a roguish smile, made them 
all laugh. The day continued to its close warm and beau- 
tiful, and though I devoted some thoughts to the esteemed 
Hungarian friends whom I had so lately left, as well as to 
the case of champaign which they had not yet exhausted, 
yet I must acknowledge that I shared, without a murmur, 
in the simple fare, as well as in the contented, I might say 
the happy feelings of the people around me. 

At half-past six we stopped for the night, and landed, by 
the li^ht of the moon, near a small village, where my Tar- 
tar friend gave us to understand we should meet with 
excellent accommodations. The path led us by an old 
fortress, near which the khan was situated. We found the 
owner standing outside, and he showed us a ladder by 
which we ascended to an open balcony, covered with mats. 
He then took a key out of his pocket and opened a door, 
through which we entered a large room, divided as usual by 
low railings into several compartments, one of which, how- 
ever, was considerably elevated above the rest, and was cov- 
ered with a finer mat. The embers were still alive in the 
fireplace, which exactly resembled the hearth already de- 
scribed, except that it had a receptacle beneath for the 
ashes. I sat down upon the edge of the elevated box. My 
31 



330 SUPPER. 

fellow-passengers, and most of the crew who came with us, 
took off their shoes in the middle of the room, and then 
seated themselves in the usual attitude of Turks, in one of 
the lower compartments. 

Coffee was served without sugar, but my friend, more 
provident than myself, produced from beneath his cincture 
a little paper of sugar, which he gave me. Noureddin 
smoked the hooka, or nargille, (i. e. fire and water,) the 
bubbling noise of which was peculiarly disagreeable to my 
ear. This instrument resembles a large carved glass de- 
canter, in the neck of which two small tubes are inserted. 
One of these tubes communicates with an elastic pipe which 
reaches the mouth of the smoker ; the other tube termi- 
nates at the top of the decanter in a small cup, called the 
loule, in which the dried leaves are placed, whose essence 
is to be extracted. These leaves usually come from Shi- 
raz; they are a species of tobacco much relished by Turks, 
but when ignited, the smoke is so rancid that they are 
obliged to purify and mitigate it by passing it through wa- 
ter. The two tubes inserted in the neck of the decanter, 
descend half way down the vessel, and the remaining half 
is nearly filled with water* Thus the suction through the 
elastic pipe and one of the small tubes draws down from 
the loule the smoke, which, after depositing all its impuri- 
ties in the water, passes into the mouth of the operator. 

In the course of an hour supper was brought in, which 
consisted of chicken stewed and served in a savoury sauce, 
hot bread, hot buttered cakes, and boiled rice, w T hich I 
found by no means unpalatable, notwithstanding my re- 
cent conversion to the Pythagorean system. These dishes 
were cooked by the female branches of the family, in the 
lower apartments of the house, which to us of course were 
inaccessible. Even in the most obscure villages of Turkey, 
the custom of secluding the women from every place fre- 
quented by man is most rigidly observed. I began already 
to feel the sombre colour w T hich this national law imparts 
to the external appearance of every Turkish community I 
visited. Men — constantly men, and nothing but men, were 
to be seen everywhere — so much so, that I got quite tired 
of looking at them. 

I am one of those who think that without Eve there could 
have been no Paradise. Woman excels us greatly in pu- 
rity and ardour of feeling, in tenderness of heart, in abso- 
lute devotion to every object of her affections. As parent, 
wife, or daughter, there is an intensity in the performance 
of all her duties, that prevents her from bestowing even a 
thought upon the exertion, or the difficulties with which they 
are attended. Equally fitted for society or solitude, the 



EATING IX THE DARK. 131 

cottage or the palace, guided by the impulses of good 
sense, which are better for the routine of every day than 
our most elaborate reflections, her heart is the calm and 
secure harbour of eveyy good and noble thought amid the 
storms of life. 

The systematic absence, therefore, of that portion of the 
inhabitants from the groups which were to be met with in 
the bazaars, and shops, and coffee-houses, often cast a 
cloud upon the enjoyment which 1 might otherwise have 
derived from the novelty of the scene. It is not, however, 
as some travellers have represented, a custom peculiar to 
Mahomedan manners. It existed in Greece, and continues 
there still. It prevails very much in Wallachia, where the 
religion of the prophet never acquired any influence. In 
fact, all over the East, as I am informed, it is deemed a vio- 
lation of traditional and well-established notions of delica- 
cy, rather than of any rule of the Koran, for a female, espe- 
cially before marriage, to appear in public without an imper- 
ative necessity, and then not without being closely veiled. 

Before we dipped our fingers in the dish, we washed 
them, our host pouring out water on them from a jar, with 
one hand, while the other supplied us with a towel. This 
operation tended, in some degree — a very, very small de- 
gree, I must confess — to reconcile me to the further pro- 
cess of dividing the members of our prey with my greasy 
friend Noureddin, and two or three of our crew. I could 
also have excused the attentions of the Tartar, who really 
meant to be most friendly, when he selected from the mid- 
dle of the stew, a couple of legs for my approbation. How- 
ever, cautiously avoiding the part which he touched, I 
found the remainder very pleasant. 

From circumstances which afterwards took place, I in- 
ferred that perhaps it was as well, that while we sat upon 
the mat to supper, I could not see all the contents of our 
dish very plainly. The light, a solitary candle, was stuck 
in a sconce by the side of the elevated fireplace, and lent 
to us but a feeble ray. Nor can I even now think without 
horror, upon the courage with which, adopting the man- 
ners of my companions, I immersed my bread in the sauce 
after the more solid materials had vanished. The bread 
was unleavened, and hot, having been just baked for us on 
the hearth in the harem below. It was prepared in large 
cakes, which were broken into pieces, and arranged round 
the dish. The buttered cakes formed the second course, 
but I did not touch them, as they appeared not to have been 
cleanly made. I supped chiefly on the boiled rice, which I 
ate with a wooden spoon, and finished off with grapes and 
coffee. When the pipes and hooka were again resorted to, 



132 A GENERAL INVASION. 

some Turks came in who seemed to be acquaintances of 
the Tartar. They appeared glad to see him, and after 
conversing with him at some length, one of them, w T ho 
spoke a little Italian, asked me if I were an Englishman. I 
answered of course in the affirmative. He then asked me 
how long it was since I left England. Itold him that after 
my departure from London I spent some time in Paris, 
which I had quitted exactly a month ago. My interrogator 
and his friends looked quite astonished at the expedition 
with which I had so far accomplished my journey. But 
when I added that I lost nearly the half of that month in 
delays of one kind or another, and that when the steam 
navigation of the Danube should be completed, I might 
hope" to make the whole journey from London to Constan- 
tinople in fourteen days, they gave up any further inquiry 
into the matter; it was altogether beyond their compre- 
hension. 

Preparations were made for our stay at the khan during 
the remainder of the night. A flock bed was brought up 
from below and spread for me in the elevated compart- 
ment. It was covered with a wadded silk counterpane, to 
which a foul sheet was sewn on the outside. A large 
greasy-looking pillow was placed at the head. I felt an in- 
stinctive reluctance to commit myself for some hours of 
unconsciousness to the keeping of this concern ; but as all 
my companions were either preparing for repose on the 
mats which they occupied, or were already wrapped in 
sleep, the sympathetic propensity was irresistible. I took 
off my coat, hung up my cloak over my head, and got un- 
der the counterpane. But I was not long in my position 
before I was apprized of the presence of numerous intru- 
ders. The reader may imagine my uneasiness, although 
they did me the honour of simply marching in multitudes 
over my face and hands, for I happen to be one of the hu- 
man race whose blood, for some unaccountable cause, 
they are uniformly compelled to spare. An immense cat 
came also to share my couch ; but to her company I ob- 
jected at once, without the least ceremony. 

Matters being in this situation, and new colonies swarm- 
ing around me every moment, I started up and disencum- 
bered myself of some at least of my too curious acquaint- 
ances. Noureddin meanwhile awoke, and having succeed- 
ed in lighting the candle by blowing into a flame an almost 
extinguished ember, which reflected a Rembrandt bright- 
ness on his gray beard and swarthy cheek, proceeded to 
smoke his hooka, whose bubbling sounds were by no mear« 
music to my ear. I hid myself in my cloak, applying to 
ray soul the flattering unction that I might thus avoid all 



RETURN TO THE BOAT. 133 

my enemies, and laid down outside the counterpane. Hap- 
pily the dogs of the village had held an aggregate meeting, 
wherein they agreed that the Englishman should have 
no sleep that night, and straightway they despatched a rad- 
ical deputation to present me their impertinent address. 
I say " happily," because I had scarcely remained half an 
hour listening to their clamour, when, peeping out from 
my place of concealment, I beheld the walls at my head 
and at my left hand literally black with armies, bent on 
fresh hostilities. I was struck with horror. Even Nou- 
reddin was astonished. There was no alternative but to 
return to the boat, and I cannot soon forget the obliging 
manner in which my proposition to that effect was imme- 
diately adopted by all parties. 

It was midnight when we found ourselves once more be- 
neath our matted canopy. The pure atmosphere, and my 
couch formed of my portmanteau, carpet-bag, and pillow 
of walnuts, were delicious after the close and populous 
prison from which we had just effected our escape. I fell 
into a profound sleep, from which I awoke not until six 
o'clock in the morning. I then washed my face and hands 
in the Danube, and felt as joyous as the day itself, which 
was splendid. As the men had resumed their oars soon 
after our return to the boat, we had made good way du- 
ring the night. The banks of the river continued flat, and 
wholly devoid of interest. We did not meet even a single 
wherry on the water to interrupt the dulness of the scene. 
Now and then we encountered large dark green water- 
snakes, swimming against the current by the undulating 
motion of their tails, holding their heads carefully out of 
the element. If we attempted to strike them with an oar, 
they divecl instantly, and reappeared a few minutes after, 
at a considerable distance. High over our heads large 
flocks of wild ducks passed, which sometimes produced a 
singular effect by their wings glistening in the distant hazy 
air. 

About five o'clock in the afternoon we came in sight of 
Nicopoli, a considerable Turkish town, remarkably well 
situated upon a range of hills rising above a bay in the 
river. The Wallachian shore looked marshy and deso- 
late ; but on our right the hills were abrupt, and so chalky 
in appearance as to remind me of the cliffs at Dover. The 
whole range forms a semicircle, at the foot of which are 
the waters of the bay. At a distance, these hills looked 
like a series of fortresses, each cluster of cliffs resembling 
redoubts and towers admirably adapted for defence. The 
town is surrounded by strong ramparts, in good repair, 
and well mounted with cannon. We landed. My Tartar 
31* 12 



134 NEW ACQUAINTANCES. 

friend, having procured a donkey, rode away after con- 
signing me to the care of Noureddin, and wishing me fare- 
well in his best manner. The crew laid in a fresh stock of 
bread and grapes. Noureddin led me to a caffine where 
the nargille seemed all the rage. It was crowded with 
Turks. This (Friday) being their sabbath, all the shops, 
with the exception of those of the butchers, bakers, and 
fruiterers, were shut in the market-place. Noureddin or- 
dered coffee and a sausage. When the latter was pro- 
duced, half-heated through, I did not much relish its ap- 
pearance ; it found still less favour in my eyes, when I saw 
that Noureddin had no other means of dividing it than by 
pulling it asunder. The coffee I could not take, as it was 
without sugar, and, the grocers' shops being closed, none 
was to be had. 

I was proceeding alone to take a view of the interior of 
the town, when I met a Moldavian, who addressed me in 
French. He advised me not to go into the town, as the 
Turks were extremely jealous of strangers. He told me 
that he had come from Galacz, on his way to Giurgeva, 
where he had business, but that the boat in w T hich he per- 
formed the voyage was prevented from going further than 
Nicopoli, by the want of water in the Danube. He added, 
that it would be quite impossible for us to proceed further 
down the river, as, a little below Nicopoli, there was hardly 
any water at all. While we were talking, a Servian, dressed 
in the European fashion, came up, who also spoke French. 
I inquired of him whether it would be possible for me to 
procure any thing in the shape of a good dinner in the 
town; he answered with a smile, that the thing was quite 
impossible. I expressed my regret that I could not even 
get a cup of coffee, as there was no sugar to be found any- 
where ; upon which he pulled a piece of dirty blue paper out 
of his pocket, in which was carefully wrapped a small 
lump of sugar. He very kindly offered it to me, but as the 
article was so scarce, and his sample of it not very invi- 
ting, I declined his civility. The Moldavian hung about 
me for some time, for what purpose I could not guess, un- 
til at length he produced what he called a coin of the By- 
zantine empire, which he offered me for a Napoleon. I 
was too well prepared for this species of dealing, to afford 
his bargaining propensity the slightest encouragement. 

The captain of our vessel came to me to state, that as 
the river was so extremely low, he could not think of de- 
parting from Nicopoli until next morning. But as I did 
not choose to put up with this delay, I insisted on our re- 
suming our voyage without further loss of time. As to the 
deficiency of water, we did not require more than two or 



NIGHT SCENE. 135 

three inches to keep our boat afloat : it we could not find 
that depth, we must drag the boat along until we passed 
the shallow, which had been described to me as extending 
to no great distance. The moon would soon be up, and 
therefore we could make the experiment by night as well 
as by day, and at all events it would be attended by no 
danger. He pointed out to me eight or ten vessels in the 
little bay, which it was found impossible to move: never- 
theless he yielded to my wishes, and we set off at half-past 
seven in the evening. 

For about an hour after our departure the bottom of 
our bark was perpetually in contact with the rocky bed of 
the Danube : so much so that we were pushed rather than 
rowed along. We then found ourselves in deep water, 
and as there was no further difficulty to be encountered, I 
consigned myself to repose. I awoke, however, about elev- 
en, when I perceived that the helm was abandoned, the 
crew were all fast asleep, and the vessel was left to take 
its own course down the current. The moon exhibited but 
half its orb, and veiled behind a thin haze, was lingering 
on the edge of the horizon. I took the helm for a while, 
but every thing in nature looked so sleepy, that I returned 
to my couch, and gathering my cloak and blanket around 
me, submitted to the general destiny. I opened my eyes 
again about two o'clock, when I beheld Noureddin stand- 
ing near the helm, praying in an audible voice, his hands 
stretched towards the stars, which were glowing in all their 
splendour above his head. The boat was still gliding 
slowly wherever the stream directed it ; so turning away 
from the starlight, I again courted, and not in vain, the 
charms of forgetfulness. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Sistow— A delusion— New friends — Good fortune — Greek civility— Wallachian 
merchants— Supper— Amicable discussion — Saturday evening— Wallachian am 
bition— Language — Character — Indolence— Habitations— Habits — Agriculture- 
Mode of Living— Costume — Females — Ornaments— Origin — Produce. 

The labours of our crew were recommenced at day- 
break, (Oct. 11,) and at nine o'clock we came in sight of 
Sistow, which was still mantled in gossamer vapours. 
Here and there the sunbeams pierced through the mist, 
and shone upon the spires of the minarets. Sistow is beau- 
tifully situated. A range of magnificent hills commences 

7* 



136 sistow. 

a league or two west of it, and extends a considerable way 
along the right bank of the Danube. The town, rising at 
the water's edge, winds its way up the undulations of the 
eminences, which seems destined by nature for the recep- 
tion of clusters of human habitations. After ascending for 
a while the houses are then lost, then they appear again 
higher up, the whole protected by a citadel, which crowns 
the summit. The hills are all well wooded, and extremely 
picturesque. 

The Danube here presents a fine sheet of water; so 
deep, too, that four or five Russian merchant ships were 
proceeding, without difficulty, towards Sistow. We met 
again several water-snakes swimming up against the cur- 
rent. At half-past three we came in sight of Rutschuk, to 
my infinite satisfaction, and in two hours after our boat 
was moored amidst a number of Russian, Turkish, and 
Greek merchant and fishing vessels of every size, which 
presented an appearance of considerable commercial ac- 
tivity. 

My captain volunteered to accompany me to find out the 
agent to whose care the commander of the steamboat had 
recommended me by letter. We walked for some time 
through the town without meeting any person who could 
give us information as to the agent's residence. When 
first I beheld Rutschuk at a distance, with its numerous 
mosques and minarets shining in the sun, rising on a bold 
promontory from the edge of the vast expanse of waters 
formed by the Danube, I felt confident that it was a weal- 
thy, populous, active, cleanly, and handsome city, which I 
should experience great gratification in examining. Never 
was my imagination more deceived. A more poverty- 
stricken, deserted, idle, filthy, ill-contrived town does not 
exist, I believe, even in Turkey. Ail the habitations, with the 
exception of the greater part of the shops, are literally 
turned outside in : that is to say, the streets on each side 
present only lines of dead walls, without even a window 
to relieve their desolate appearance. The "fronts" of the 
houses are all, as an Irishman might say, "backwards," 
opening to a courtyard, which is entered by a gate. 

In Spain the private residences are built in the form of a 
square, with an open space in the middle, but still fronting 
to the street. The streets of Rutschuk look like the ways 
through a fortress, nothing but wall on each side, except 
where the gates here and there interrupt the dull uniform- 
ity of the stone and mortar. I now, for the first time, un- 
derstood the truth of the phrase, that the Turks were only 
" encamped" in Europe. This is literally the fact. Almost 
all the towns which I afterwards visited in Bulgaria, as well 



GOOD FORTUNE 137 

as in Romania, were constructed on the same plan, evi- 
dently with a view to self-defence, for every house was 
in itself a fortress. 

At length we chanced to meet a Greek, whom my guide 
saluted in his own language. Upon the superscription of 
the letter being shown him, he said that he was very well 
acquainted with the person to whom it was addressed ; 
but the agent's residence was at some distance from where 
we stood, and he refused to conduct us to it until the mor- 
row. This specimen of indolence was too ridiculous not 
to betray its real motive. Of course I immediately pro- 
duced a piastre, which, without any further negotiation, 
gave motion to his feet, and he led us through one or two 
streets to a gate, which he opened without any ceremony. 
We entered a large square, on each side of which were 
houses belonging to different families, including a public 
inn, in the balcony of which several Turks and Greeks 
were smoking and sipping coffee. One of the latter, a 
short, thick, cunning-looking fellow, dressed in my own 
way, saluted me at once in excellent French, and offered 
me his best services. I gave him the letter, and said he 
would oblige me very much if he could tell me where the 
individual lived for whom it was intended. He answered 
me by pointing out another Greek, who, also dressed as a 
European, was sitting on the mat opposite to him. The 
letter was immediately read by the agent, who promised 
to show me every civility in his power. I felt quite re- 
lieved from the difficulty in which I had been placed, 
and adding one to the party enjoyed an excellent cup of 
coffee. 

The Greek who first addressed me was the only person 
present who spoke French. He said that he had'only ar- 
rived two days ago from Constantinople, and that if I were 
bound for that capital he would be happy to do every 
thing necessary to facilitate my progress. Here, thought 
I, is another striking instance of the good fortune which has 
attended me throughout my journey. I was wholly unac- 
quainted with the Turkish and modern Greek languages ; I 
travelled without a companion or a servant who might 
compensate for my deficiency id that respect; and yet, 
though my ignorance might have been followed by the 
greatest embarrassment, in a town where I was an utter 
stranger in every sense of the word, I had the good luck 
to meet with this man, who in a moment dispelled from 
my mind every apprehension of delay or inconven- 
ience. 

I had seen enough of the world to be able to perceive 
that my Greek was already calculating;:, within the interior 



138 WALLACHIAN MERCHANTS. 

of his own breast, how much he was likely to gain from an 
English traveller by this adventure. But I cheerfully ac- 
cepted the offer of his services, well knowing that I must pay 
for them, and that perhaps I was destined to submit even 
to some degree of imposition. But civilities and attentions, 
rendered especially under such circumstances, are well 
worth their 'price. I explained to him that I was most 
anxious to continue my journey with the least possible de- 
lay ; that it was necessary for me to engage a Tartar and 
the usual number of horses, and that if it were at all prac- 
ticable I should wish to proceed that evening on the road 
to Constantinople. This, he said, was altogether out of the 
question, as no Tartar could supply me with horses with- 
out a firman from the pasha, who was already shut up for 
the night in his harem with his family, and would not be 
accessible until eight o'clock the next morning. 

Meanwhile the agent had my luggage brought to the 
khan, and having desired my Greek to thank the Ionians 
for their hospitalit}' and kindness during my late voyage, I 
presented them with a gold ducat, with which they seemed 
perfectly satisfied, observing that they much regretted I 
was not to accompany them any further. The agent then 
conducted me to his own house, my Greek having prom- 
ised to be with me at seven o'clock the following morning, 
in order to make all the requisite preparations for my 
journey. 

I met at the agent's house four or five Wallachian mer- 
chants from Bucharest, who, under a cunning aspect, that 
seemed to inquire, " Can we gain a ducat or two out of 
this Englishman?" appeared, nevertheless, very agreeable 
men, and disposed to pay me every kind of attention. 
They all spoke a little French, seemed respectable in their 
way, and guests in the house, which I assumed to be a 
private sort of hotel for Franks. The room in which we 
sat was a large one, containing a divan, extending along 
two of its sides, whica was spread with cushions, covered 
by white cotton cloth. Two rickety tables were brought 
in, upon which, after a little delay, supper was served for 
the Wallachians and myself, our host, and three or four 
brothers, or other relatives, who lived with him. 

Our first course was stewed mutton and cabbage, which, 
after three days' Lenten fare, I found very acceptable. 
Next came some fried fish, which was not bad either ; 
then apiece of roast beef, so tough that it defied even Wal- 
lachian powers of mastication ; and finally, a dish of boiled 
rice, mixed up with some curdled milk, which was not at 
all to my taste. These viands were exhibited in pewter 
dishes, and we had each a pewter plate, a pewter spoon, 



AMICABLE DISCUSSION. 139 

and a steel knife and fork, which I considered as a deci- 
ded improvement upon my late mode of living. We had 
for dessert some large flavourless grapes. The wine was, 
to me, undrinkable ; but a bottle of white rum was produced, 
which, mixed with water, compensated for the want of a 
better beverage. 

While we were taking our coffee, my intended move- 
ments were discussed. My new friends had, as they said, 
lately arrived from Constantinople ; and they assured me 
that I should find my ride over the Balkans a much more 
serious affair than I appeared to imagine. They had no 
doubt that by this time the mountains were covered with 
snow and ice, and as in addition to these refrigerators, I 
should most probably encounter piercing winds, that would 
freeze the blood in my veins, they agreed, in the first place, 
in condemning my cloak as wholly inadequate for my pro- 
tection against the inclemency of the weather. They fur- 
ther unanimously recommended that I should purchase a 
cloth pelisse, lined throughout with fur, a fur cap, boots 
lined with fur, and a fur waistcoat, [f, in addition to these 
articles, I provided myself with a muff, a mattress, a warm 
rug, a strong blanket, and a store of rum, I might, perhaps, 
hope to effect the passage in safety, provided 1 wore arms. 
When I confessed that I had neither sword, stiletto, nor 
pistol, they all held up their hands in astonishment, and 
exclaimed, that I should by no means omit to purchase a 
carbine, and a pair of pistols at least, before I set out, oth- 
erwise I should have no chance of escaping the savage 
banditti who infested the forests of Mount Haemus ! 

The favourite book of my youth was Gil Bias ; and I 
could not but feel a secret delight in recalling the philoso- 
phy of that unrivalled production to my assistance on the 
present occasion. I was, in fact, much amused by the 
combination in which they were all engaged, in order to 
practice on my simplicity. But I listened with great at- 
tention to every thing they had to say ; though I could 
hardly refrain from laughter, when, as T fully expected 
would be the case, one produced a threadbare Russian 
pelisse, which he had never worn ; another a pair of old 
jack-boots, lined with fur ; another offered to dispose of 
the fur cap, which he had at the moment on his head ; 
another brought forth an assortment of sabres and fire- 
arms, pressing me on the spot to offer a round sum, about 
fifty ducats, for the whole ! I observed that I must take 
time to consider their very obliging propositions; being 
inclined, at all events, to negotiate for a pelisse, as I had 
reason to suppose that so much of the autumn could not 

29 



J 40 WALLACHIAN AMBITION. 

have passed over without leaving its usual snows on the 
Balkans. 

After supper, the tottering tables were removed, and the 
night being brilliantly fine, mine host and his friends and 
guests amused themselves in walking up and down the 
courtyard ; some talking, some singing Greek songs, one 
playing a flute, and another strumming a guitar. It being 
Saturday evening, they all appeared in a festive mood. I 
sat in the balcony, gazing upon the scene before me and 
on the domes and minarets around shining in the moon- 
light, with a sort of feeling, which compelled me for the 
moment to doubt my own identity, transferred as I was 
thus suddenly from people to people. 

Before we retired to rest there was a general muster of 
all the inmates of the house in the principal room; when 
the conversation happened to turn on the actual state of 
Turkey. The Greeks maintained that their nation was 
rapidly rising once more to the ascendency which they 
formerly possessed in that part of Europe, and that as 
they were certain of the assistance of Russia, they had no 
doubt that they would be soon again masters of the whole 
of the old Greek empire. They said all this with a degree 
of confidence, which plainly showed that the subject had 
long formed a general topic of conversation in Wallachia, 
and that it was a theme by no means unacceptable to the 
ear of the autocrat. There is aGreek church at Rutschuk, 
which they told me was usually well attended. 

The conversation then turned upon the history and ac- 
tual state of the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia, of 
which very little is known in England. As to the history 
of those provinces, it appears that, together with Transyl- 
vania, they formed part of Dacia, which was added to the 
Roman empire by Trajan. They were peopled principally 
from the Latin provinces. It was not the policy of Adrian, 
however, to preserve conquests so remote, and accord- 
ingly, in order to effect their separation from the empire, 
he destroyed the bridge which Trajan had constructed 
over the Danube. Thus cut off, they refused to yield alle- 
giance to Commodus, and having been wholly abandoned 
by Aurelian, they were successively invaded by the Goths, 
and other northern tribes, with which they became so in- 
termingled that it is difficult to say to what race they now 
really belong. 

Their language is a kind of Patois of the Latin; — thus, 
for Aqua they have the word Apa ; for Angelus, Annel ; 
for Bona, Buna ; for Campus longus, Caemplung; for Dom- 
ina, Domna; for Dominicus, Domnaste; for Debiter, Du- 
ter; for Herba, Erba ; for Frater, Frat, and so on. Some 



WALLACHIAN CHARACTER. 141 

historians maintain that the race and the language were 
originally Sclavonic ; the affinity of the latter, however, to 
the dialect of the Romans shows that at least the Roman 
conquest exercised a powerful influence on the whole Da- 
cian community. 

" The Wallachian," says a German writer, treating of 
this nation, "is short in person, but of a strong, compact, 
muscular frame of body. The savage mode of life to 
which he is accustomed from his earliest infancy, enables 
him to bear hardships with fortitude. Heat and cold, hun- 
ger and thirst, make no impression upon him. His fea- 
tures are strong and expressive, his hair dark and bushy. 
On the whole, his countenance is not disagreeable, and 
you may often find amongst this people, both men and 
women, as well as girls, of great beauty. They arrive 
early at maturity, yet frequently live to an advanced age. 
At the age of seventeen and eighteen, the Wallachian mar- 
ries a wife, who is seldom above thirteen ; before he is 
thirty, he is a grandfather. The Wallachians are, in re- 
spect to character, sly, reserved, cunning, revengeful, and 
indolent. With the greatest appearance of innocence, they 
understand well how to profit by every opportunity of 
overreaching their neighbours. Of their cunning and re- 
vengeful dispositions, examples occur every day. Indo- 
lence prevails amongst them, as in other uncivilized na- 
tions ; it is, however, rather the failing of the men than of 
the women, who perform all the labour of the house, make 
clothes for the whole family, and frequently give their 
husbands much assistance in the labours of agriculture ; 
whereas the men, after having discharged some of the 
most indispensable occupations of the field and of the 
vineyard, spend the remainder of their time in idleness. 
Their few wants are easily supplied, and, when this is done, 
they seek no more. The natural indolence of the Walla- 
chians receives much encouragement from the frequent 
holy days celebrated by the Greek Church, which they 
usually spend in prayer, drinking, and sloth. To work 
upon these days would be criminal. They are much de- 
voted to drink, and the Wallachian, in a few hours, will 
frequently consume in wine and brandy all that he has 
gained by the labour of the week. If he is so fortunate as 
to find a pipe or violin in addition to a full pitcher, he sel- 
dom ceases from revehy until he is quite drunk, and is 
carried home senseless. It rarely happens that many Wal- 
lachians are assembled under such circumstances without 
disputes and fighting, for they are very quarrelsome when 
drunk. 

M The Wallachians are in the highest degree superstitious, 
32 



142 HABITATIONS. 

but make no scruple of employing shocking oaths on every 
trifling occasion. The stupidity and avarice of the greater 
part of the clergy, who in the ignorance of the common 
people find a rich source of profit, contribute to strengthen 
the failings and depravity of their flock. The ignorance 
and want of cultivation in the inferior Wallachian clergy 
surpasses all belief; and there can be no doubt, that the 
first step towards improving the morals of the people, must 
be a reform in that, order. 

" The habitations of the Wallachians are small and con- 
fined ; their towns are generally built of mud and timber, 
very seldom of stone. Their houses have seldom more 
than one room, besides which there is a small kitchen and 
an oven. The stable and other buildings which belong to 
a peasant's yard, are universally ill-constructed, low, and 
dirty ; they keep their grain in pits, and sometimes, par- 
ticularly the maize, in baskets of wicker-work, suspended 
on a pole some feet above the ground, and protected by a 
cover of the same manufacture, thatched with straw. They 
employ themselves but little in gardening, and, with the 
exception of a few vegetables irregularly planted, nothing 
is found in their gardens but fruit-trees, which are left to 
the care of nature. 

" The internal arrangements of their houses are very 
simple. The furniture consists of the family bed, formed 
of straw, sacks, and coverlets, or, according to the wealth 
of the possessor, of feather beds and bolsters, with covers 
ornamented with coloured stitch-work, which form a great 
object of luxury. Besides these, there are commonly a 
rustic table, benches arranged round the room, and one or 
two wooden chests adorned with rudely painted flowers, in 
which their clothes and other treasure are kept. Some 
pitchers, plates, and dishes, are arranged or hung against 
the wall, together with pictures of Greek saints, before 
which lamps of coloured glass are sometimes suspended. 
The windows are very small, and the light is usually ad- 
mitted through a piece of bladder. 

" The indolence of the Wallachians, which they can best 
indulge in breeding and tending cattle, is the reason for 
their preferring this to all other occupations ; and the hard- 
ships with which this mode of obtaining a livelihood is ac- 
companied, rather induce them to follow this career. All 
the changes of weather, and all the privations to which 
the wandering life of the herdsman is subject in distant and 
uninhabited countries which he is forced to explore in or- 
der to find good pasture for his cattle, are easily borne by 
the Wallachian, whose bodily frame has been hardened 
from his childhood ; and the exemption from labour which 



AGRICULTURE. 143 

he enjoys as he follows his flock, renders the difficulties he 
has to encounter, still less irksome. 

" The Wallachians direct their attention particularly to 
the breeding of sheep, of which a single individual frequent- 
ly possesses above a thousand head. They usually sell the 
young rams, and the various kinds of cheese which they 
prepare in large quantities from the milk of the ewes, to- 
gether with the wool. The old sheep, no longer servicea- 
ble for breeding, are then slaughtered. They likewise 
keep goats in large numbers, either mingled with their 
sheep, or in separate flocks, on the mountains covered with 
forests, and derive great profits from the skins, the tallow, 
which is particularly valuable, and the cheese made from 
their milk. The other branches of cattle-breeding are not 
neglected by them, and they rear a considerable number 
of horses, horned cattle, swine, and fowls. 

" The cultivation of the field and the vineyard are occu- 
pations far less grateful to the Wallachian, and he only re- 
sorts to this mode of gaining a livelihood, when the cli- 
mate, or other circumstances, renders it impossible to de- 
vote himself to the breeding of cattle. He chiefly culti- 
vates maize, a principal article of diet, because, from this 
species of grain, a greater return from a small quantity of 
seed may be more reasonably expected than from any 
other crop. The Wallachians do not attend much to the 
culture of other kinds of grain, but they cultivate vine- 
yards pretty generally when they occupy situations fitted 
for wine; still, however, the produce of their fields and 
vineyards seldom exceeds their immediate wants ; while, 
on the other hand, Wallachian cattle-breeders become pos- 
sessed of property. 

" Their mode of living is very simple ; it chiefly consists 
of maize, from the meal of which they prepare a thick por- 
ridge, the polenta of the Italians, called by them mamaliga. 
From the same meal they also make bread, or rather a 
kind of cake, which, while fresh, is very palatable, but soon 
grows hard, and scarcely fit to eat. Besides this,' they use 
milk, cheese, fat, onions, garlic, fruit, green vegetables, and 
legumes, which they cook in the most simple manner. 
They eat little animal food, observing very strictly all the 
fasts appointed by the Greek Church, during which they ab- 
stain altogether from the flesh of animals. At these periods 
they prepare their food chiefly with water and salt alone. 
They drink much wine and brandy, which latter they dis- 
til both from grain and from plums, in large quantities. 
The great consumption of grain for this purpose has giver* 
rise to repeated laws forbidding its employment in dis- 
tillery. 



144 COSTUME. 

"The clothing of the Wallachian varies in many re- 
spects, according to the district; yet, commonly, it may be 
described as follows: The summer dress of the men con- 
sists of a short coarse shirt with wide open sleeves, which 
reaches partly over the thighs, and hangs outside of the 
breeches. These are of coarse white cloth, very larg*% and 
descend to the ankles, and in summer are sometimer made 
of linen instead of woollen cloth. They wrap rags round 
their feet, and over them put a piece of raw leather, bound 
on with thongs, and thus secured to the foot and the leg 
above the ankle. This species of sandals, cut from the 
raw hide without any preparation, they call opintschen. 
The more wealthy wear short boots reaching to the calf of 
the leg, instead of the opintschen. Around the middle of 
the body the shirt is bound down by a leathern girdle, gen- 
erally ornamented with brass buttons, in which they carry 
a knife, a flint and steel, and a tobacco-pipe ; over the shirt 
is sometimes thrown a jacket of coarse brown woollen 
cloth. They wear their hair short, suffering it to hang 
down a little way in its natural curls. None but old men, 
or such as from their situation or office, as clergymen or 
dorfrichters, are particularly entitled to respect, suffer their 
beards to grow. Amongst the common people, this usual- 
ly takes place after the age of forty, and such men are dis- 
tinguished by the appellation of Moschule, or grandfather. 
The head is generally covered with a white cloth or wool- 
len cap, or a round flat hat. While the Wallachian is in 
mourning for a relation, he never covers his head, let the 
weather be what it may. They carry a knapsack contain- 
ing provisions and necessaries, suspended by a strap from 
their shoulders, and a strong stick in the hand. 

"The women wear a long shirt, which reaches to the 
knees, ornamented at the breast and arms with coloured 
stitches. From a small girdle are suspended two aprons, 
one before and the other behind. These are somewhat 
shorter than the shirt, and are made of striped woollen 
cloth, bordered below with a fringe; over the shirt, the bo- 
som is often covered with a stomacher of cloth or leather. 
They also wear, particularly in winter, under their shirts, 
long wide drawers, and in the mountain districts cover 
their feet with the opintschen, but in the plains they com- 
monly wear boots. The girls have no covering on the 
head, but their hair is platted in braids, which are disposed 
on the head in the form of a cross, and fastened with pins. 
Married women wear head-dresses of white linen, and the 
richer part of them of muslin. The Wallachian women 
are very fond of ornament ; they paint their cheeks red, 
and this, even amongst the poorest, is deemed essential to 



ORIGIN. 145 

beauty. They often colour their eyebrows black, and 
wear ear-rings of different kinds ; but the chief ornament 
amongst the rich consists of several necklaces of silver, or 
sometimes gold coins, (instead of which the poor use base 
coins and glass beads,) strung upon threads, and sus- 
pended around the neck and breast. The number of them 
is indefinite, and they frequently reach quite to the girdle. 
The embroidery, likewise, upon their shirts and their ma- 
ny-coloured aprons, is esteemed by them a constituent part 
of ornamental attire. Children, during the summer, wear 
only a long shirt reaching to the ankles, and there is no 
distinction of dress between the boys and girls. In the 
winter they are seldom better clothed, and are seen play- 
ing and leaping about in their shirts in the midst of the 
snow. When they have reached their sixth or seventh 
year, they dress like men and women. 

"In winter, the Wallachian provides himself with a 
sheep-skin cloak, with the wool turned inwards, and fur- 
nished with a cape of fur instead of a hood, or he throws 
over him a white or brown cloth mantle, which reaches to 
the knees, and has a large hood, which is put over the head 
in bad weather: under the cloak he wears his usual dress. 
The women, in the same way, wear cloaks of sheep-skin 
reaching to the knees, and made with arms ; the inside 
lined with wool, the outside adorned with coloured patches 
and coarse embroidery, and in the front brought together 
with laces and buttons." 

The author just quoted, assumes the Wallachian nation 
to be of Sclavonic origin, and, with great probability, con- 
tends that the Latin has been the engrafted, rather' than 
the original tongue. The two provinces were overrun 
by the Turks in the early part of the fifteenth century, after 
which period they became tributary to the Sultan, who as- 
sumed the right to nominate and depose the two princes 
by whom they had been governed. The rapid develop- 
ment of the Russian empire gradually brought it into con- 
tact with Mahomedan power in those regions ; and as the 
inhabitants almost exclusively professed the Greek reli- 
gion, the emperor claimed the right of interference, so far 
as to secure to them the free exercise of their faith. This 
right was sanctioned by the treaty of Bucharest, which 
was signed in 1812, and the treaty of 1829, concluded at 
Adrianople, (to which I shall hereafter advert) may be 
said to have placed the provinces completely under Rus- 
sian protection. 

The produce of the two provinces consists chiefly in 
tallow, Indian corn, wheat, hides, juniper berry, honey, and 
wax. Staves might also be manufactured there in great 
32* 13 



146 STRIKING A BARGAIN. 

abundance, as well as silk and wine, to which the climate 
is peculiarly favourable. Vast numbers of sheep-skins are 
purchased there yearly by the Austrian dealers, who have 
hitherto engrossed the foreign trade of the provinces. An 
English house has lately been established at Bucharest, by 
Messrs. Bell and Anderson, whose enterprising character 
will probably give rise to an extensive trade, through the 
Danube and the Black Sea, with Wallaehia and this coun- 
try, in due season. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Striking a bargain — Equestrian preparations— Greek v. Greek — Rutschuk— Valley 
of repose — Gipsies — Dinner — Going astray— Cogitations — Bulgarian girls — An 
alarm. 

I rose betimes in the morning, (October 12,) when I 
found my Greek friend already waiting to receive my or- 
ders. It was necessary for me to pay my respects to the 
chief of the Tartars, in order to arrange with him for a guide 
and for horses to take me to Constantinople. I was told that I 
might, with a little exertion, accomplish the journey in three 
days, and that, allowing a horse for myself, one for my Tartar 
guide, one for my luggage, one for the postillion, and one for 
relief] that is to say, five horses in all, I might easily obtain 
the whole for the sum of fifteen hundred piastres. I proceed- 
ed to a caravansary wholly occupied by Tartars, attend- 
ed by my Greek, who pointed out to me their chieftain, in a 
balcony, smoking his pipe. He was seated at a table, and on 
the opposite side I discovered a countenance not unfamiliar 
to me, which turned out to be that of my late Tartar fel- 
low-passenger, who had arrived here over land the evening 
before. Doubtless he had prepared his tribe for the ap- 
proach of an Englishman, and accordingly the first princi- 
ples of the negotiation were laid down upon a basis of 
three thousand piastres. Nothing less could be taken. 

My Greek, who had probably also his slice out of the 
bargain, and who had instructed me the evening before, 
that I ought to pay no more than the sum I have first stated, 
now suddenly went round to the other side, and declared, 
that considering all things, especially that if I could pro- 
cure no horse, it would be impossible for me to quit Ruts- 
chuk, advised me, if I wished to conclude the matter speed- 
ily, to make an offer at once of the highest sum 1 meant to 
give. I then proposed two thousand piastres; but ultimate- 
ly the sum agreed upon was two thousand five hundred, 
about £25 sterling, which was to include all expenses what- 



GREEK r. GREEK. 147 

ever, Halfwastobe paid down; the other half at Con- 
stantinople. When it is considered that the distance from 
Rutschuk to the capital is about three hundred and fifty 
English miles, that I was to be attended the whole of the 
way by a respectable Tartar guide, who was to be respon- 
sible with his head for my safety, that we were to have 
several relays of five horses on the road, each relay accom- 
panied, of course, by a postillion, that the Tartar was to 
defray all charges, and that after seeing me lodged at a 
hotel in Pera, he was to return to Rutschuk with a certifi- 
cate of my arrival, and of his own good conduct on the 
journey, it must be admitted, after all, that the bargain was 
not unreasonable. When it was concluded, the chief un- 
dertook all the necessary arrangements about my firman, 
and promised that my horses should be ready in two hours. 

In the mean time, I had to equip myself with a saddle, 
bridle, whip, straps and cords, and a pair of strong boots, 
all of which the Greek procured for me. It so happened 
that there was not a saddle or bridle ready mounted to be 
had in the town, except those which my Greek had himself 
used on his late journey from Constantinople, for which he 
had the modesty to demand four ducats. I was obliged to 
submit to his imposition, but I must do him the justice to 
say, that though very well inclined to extract as much as 
he possibly could out of my purse, he would not suffer any 
body to rob me in the ordinary way but himself. When I 
consulted him about the pelisse and pistol affair, he laugh- 
ed outright. He had crossed the Balkans only a few days 
before ; there was not a particle of snow upon them. As 
to the banditti, it was probable enough there might be some 
Bulgarian marauders in the forests, but they would never 
dare to attack my Tartar. 

He then took me to the apartments which he occupied, 
where, with the assistance of an imp, whom he called his 
servant, he manufactured a couple of tumblers of egg-coffee, 
and enabled me to make a tolerably good breakfast, in 
what he denominated the European style. He took my 
luggage under his care, saw it carefully packed on one of 
my horses, and besides assisting me to get rid of my Wal- 
lachian friends — who, contrary, I must add, to the express- 
ed wisbes of my very worthy host, again pressed upon me 
a whole wardrobe of fur, old pelisses, sabres and guns — 
exerted himself in every possible way to expedite my de- 
parture. With reference to the plague, he said that cer- 
tainly some "accidents" had occurred at Pera; but that 
the contagion was principally confined to Constantinople. 

Though fleeced a little by this fellow, I could not help be- 
ing pleased by his superior intelligence, his activity, and 



148 VALLEY OP REPOSE. 

his useful attentions. Nor did I think the less of him when, 
with a manly tear stealing down his weather-stained cheek, 
he entreated me to call upon his wife and little girl at Pera, 
to assure them of his safety, and to say that after perform- 
ing his mission at Bucharest, he would speedily return 
home. He wrote down her address in my journal as fol- 
lows: — "Madame Catherine Marcello a Arnout kioy a cote 
du l'Apothecaire sur la mer dans la maison du Nicolaki 
Afesso. S'appelle demoiselle Effrdani." 

The horses having been saddled, and all things prepared, 
about ten o'clock I and my Tartar and postillion mounted, 
and rode, quietly through the town. The shops were all 
open, and exhibited a rich display of military saddles and 
bridles, belts and cartouche-boxes, gayiy ornamented ; of 
Persian carpets, Broussa silks, sashes, ataghans, pistols 
beautifully mounted in ivory and silver, pipes with every 
variety of amber mouthpieces, umbrellas, Greek caps, scar- 
let jackets, yellow pointed slippers, gold-headed canes, fine 
cloths, woollen and cotton stockings, and every article of 
grocery, fruits, vegetables, meat, fowl, bread, fish, hard- 
ware, and jewellery. The floors of these shops were usu- 
ally elevated above the level of the street, and the owners 
and their assistants sat inside upon the floors, some work- 
ing as tailors, some as saddlers, and artisans of the ordi- 
nary trades. In several of these shops, which were well 
stored, I saw nobody attending. They were quite open to 
the street, as when the shutters are taken down there is no 
glass window to prevent any person who chooses from en- 
tering. 

I had already noticed this peculiarity to my Greek friend, 
who said that it was observable throughout Turkey, where 
those petty larcenies so common in other countries were 
never heard of. He added, moreover, that, perhaps the 
forests of Mount Haemus excepted. I might travel alone all 
over Turkey, my portmanteau filled with gold, and unlock- 
ed, and that I should not lose so much as a ducat by rob- 
bery. His information on this point was perfectly correct. 
The Turks will gain as much as they can in making a bar- 
gain with foreigners, or with each other, but they never 
think of stealing money, or indeed property of any descrip- 
tion. 

As soon as we passed out of the town, we put our horses 
to their speed, alternately trotting quickly, or galloping, al- 
most without interruption, until one o'clock in the after- 
noon, when we reposed from the heat of the day in a valley 
admirably suited for that purpose. It was of considerable 
extent, surrounded on all sides by craggy precipices. A 
brook rushed rapidly through the middle of the valley from 



GIPSIES. 149 

one of the neighbouring heights. A caravan, consisting of 
twenty or thirty wagons, laden with wattles, mats, fruits, 
and merchandise of every sort, had already stopped here 
to take advantage of the coolness of the shade, and the 
freshness of the torrent, whose waters were delicious. Their 
oxen were drinking from the stream, or ruminating upon 
its banks. Groups of families belonging to the caravan 
were formed here and there ; the men smoking, the women 
preparing their dinner round a fire, or washing linen in the 
brook, the children playing about and shouting. Other 
travellers, who had rested their appointed time, amongst 
them some Turkish troopers, leading beautiful black Ara- 
bian horses, were preparing to resume their journey. My 
Tartar and I sat down behind a wagon, which protected 
us from the rays of the sun, until our horses were suffi- 
ciently refreshed. We then galloped on as before. 

Our road, which was only marked through the open 
country by the tracks of wheels and of the hoofs of oxen 
and of horses, passed over low hills and valleys, occasion- 
ally patched with brushwood. About three o'clock we 
stopped at a solitary Bulgarian khan, where we found a 
number of ragged peasants, with their families, drinking 
white rum and water under a shed. They all came forth, 
upon our riding into the yard, and in a fawning, servile 
manner welcomed the Tartar. A mat was spread for us 
in a rude balcony, which was protected by a roof of reeds 
from the sun. While we were resting here, one of the 
peasants who w r as intoxicated, though he had scarcely a 
fragment of shirt to cover his nakedness, his long hair 
matted by filth upon his forehead, and a long staff in his 
hand, approached, as well as he could, to make our ac- 
quaintance. The Tartar took up his whip, and lashed his 
feet soundly, until some of his companions came and took 
him away. 

Two female gipsies, dressed in the usual costume of that 
mystic race, next appeared standing by our balcony. I 
could not discover whence they so suddenly came. They 
were not deficient in the browned ruby cheek, the black 
eye, and swelling bosom which distinguish the tribe. They 
bore also long staffs* in their hands, and evinced a desire 
to disclose to us our future destinies. But they spoke laugh- 
ingly, as if they were convinced that they had very little 
chance of imposing upon our credulity. Upon the Tartar's 
returning their invitation with a shake of his head, they 

* The peasant sometimes places his staff upon the back of his shou*- 
ders, grasping it tightly at the same time with each hand lifted as k& 
walks. In this manner it affords relief to his back and chest, and also 
supports his arms. 

13* 



150 



GOING ASTRAY. 



went away, disappearing through the hedge which sepa- 
rated the yard from the neighbouring field. 

A wagon was standing in the yard, which was hurdled in 
all round, and filled with a noisy multitude of cocks and 
hens, on their way to the market. I had a most refresh- 
ing drink of spring water flavoured with rum, from a clean 
wooden bowl, after which our dinner was served to us in 
the balcony, consisting of black bread, hard eggs, very fine 
onions, and the best salt I had tasted since I quitted Eng- 
land. I asked for some grapes, but none were in the house, 
which seemed well stored with Indian corn hanging in 
bunches from the roof. I dined heartily, and with reno- 
vated energies galloped away as soon as our frugal meal 
was over. 

The afternoon was delightfully fine, neither hot nor cold, 
but of that medium temperature which makes the blood 
tingle in its circulation through the channels of the frame. 
Having been so. long confined to vehicles of various de- 
scriptions, I enjoyed the free air and the boundless green- 
sward, over which I was riding. My horse, too, though a 
poor, miserable-looking hack, refreshed by a good feed, 
and an hour's rest, cantered along in a spirited style. On 
starting, I rode on before my Tartar and postillion, firmly 
persuaded that my horse knew the road to Shumla as well 
as either of them. For a while I heard them galloping be- 
hind me, but the sound ceasing to reach my ear, 1 looked 
back, and to my consternation beheld not a creature with- 
in the whole range of my horizon. 1 waited for a while, 
and then rode back two or three miles without meeting 
anybody. I concluded that I had lost my road, and enter- 
ed another beaten track, to which my horse, however, man- 
ifested several very intelligible objections. 1 took counsel 
with him, leaving the bridle on his neck, when he deliber- 
ately turned round, and followed his own course. 

My mood of mind at that moment was by no means en- 
viable. I had no means of ascertaining whether I was in 
the right way to Shumla, or whether, as I almost appre- 
hended from the alacrity of my horse, we were returning 
to Rutschuk. As I had missed my Tartar and postillion, 
whither had they gone? Would they ride forward to Shum- 
la to inquire forme, or would they return to Rutschuk, sat 
isfied with the sum already paid, in order to justify them- 
selves by stating what w r as the truth, that my parting from 
them was my own act? They had all my luggage, and 
even my cloak; how was I to cross the Balkans without 
any protection against the reputed inclemency of these 
mountains? They had, moreover, some little remem- 
brances of my journey, which I had bought for my wife and 



BULGARIAN GIRL8. 151 

children, the loss of which I believe I should have regretted 
more than any thing else. I possessed, indeed, enough of 
gold in my pocket to defray my expenses to Constantino- 
ple, but I knew not a syllable of the language spoken by 
the Turks, and was equally ignorant of that in use amongst 
the Bulgarians. How was I to inquire my way? How was 
I to make anybody understand what I wanted, when it 
would be necessary to procure fresh horses, and even the 
scanty meals with which I must be contented on the jour 
ney ? Was it quite safe for me to travel alone? and if not, 
how and where was I to meet with a new guide? 

These questions passed rapidly through my mind, but I 
came to the conclusion that, at all events, I would go on. 
The country rose gradually into hills, which indicated that 
I should soon be in sight of the Balkans. I met some shep- 
herds tending their goats, to whom I shouted the word 
" Shumla," and then pointing along the track in which I 
was riding, inquired, by this gesticulation, if I were in the 
right road ; to which they seemed to answer in the affirm- 
ative, by pointing the same way. This information re- 
moved a heavy burden of doubt and anxiety from my 
mind. The sun had already set, and twilight was fast 
fading away ; but I allowed my horse to get on after his 
own fashion, trusting to a benign Providence for protec- 
tion, and consoling myself with the thought that I was 
engaged in an adventure which seemed pregnant with in- 
teresting incidents. 

My romantic anticipations were by no means dispersed, 
when, descending into a valley, I arrived at a fountain, 
round which several Bulgarian girls were assembled with 
pitchers. They seemed to wonder very much " what man- 
ner of man" I was, and I could not help admiring their 
beauteous black eyes and dark hair, which fell in plats 
on their shoulders, ornamented with pieces of silver coin. 
Some wore similar ornaments in their ears, connected to- 
gether by beads of coral. They were dressed in linen or 
flannel tunics, marked with a red cross on the left breast, to 
show, I presume, that they were Christians, and therefore 
not obliged to wear the veil. They seemed, however, ex- 
tremely shy ; though curiosity, which characterizes the sex 
in every climate, now and then tempted them to take a 
peep at the solitary stranger. I prevailed on one of those 
damsels to allow me to drink out of her pitcher ; but as 
soon as they filled their vessels, which they did in a great 
hurry, they commenced a general flight. 

I felt very much inclined to follow them, satisfied that 
they lived in some neighbouring hamlet, where I might 
spend the night, when I was alarmed by the sound of two 



152 ARRIVAL AT RASGRAD. 

shots, which rapidly followed each other, at some distance. 
Looking round towards the eminence from which I had my- 
self just descended, I saw, in the increasing dusk, a horse- 
man, galloping wildly, as if he were pursued by a whole 
troop of banditti. Holding his pistol in his hand, he directed 
his course towards the fountain, when, looking at me with a 
frightened aspect, his lips trembling, his forehead bathed in 
perspiration, he threw himself down from his horse upon 
the ground, where he sat for a few minutes perfectly 
motionless. It was my Tartar ! I hardly knew him, so 
changed was the expression of his countenance, so disor- 
dered was his turban, and his whole dress, as if he had 
just fled from a field of battle. My postillion appeared soon 
after, leading the baggage horse, but the fifth was missing. 
It was soon explained, that the horse which he had ridden 
all the day fell on the road soon after our departure from 
the place where we had dined ; that every effort was made 
to get him on his legs again, but that after losing a great 
deal of time in the experiment, they were obliged to aban- 
don the animal ; the more so, as from my imprudence in 
hastening on, they found it necessary to come in pursuit 
of me. The Tartar's head was at stake, which he would 
probably have lost had he not fortunately overtaken me. I 
blamed myself for causing the man so much tribulation, 
though the occurrence was one of those mere chapters of 
accidents which now and then are to be found in the his- 
tory of every man's life, be he ever so circumspect. 



CHAPTER XV. 

A boorish group—Night quarters of a caravan — Shunila— An intrusion— An an- 
gry Turk— Balkan roads— Difficulties of the way— Forests ofHsemus— Banditti- 
Terrors— Descent of the Balkans— Dinner— Karnabat— Gipsies— Catching a Tar- 
ter — A fiery bedroom — A decent khan — Supper. 

Having all refreshed ourselves and our horses at the 
fountain, we remounted in the bright light of the moon, 
which almost renewed the day. There was a balmy soft- 
ness in the air which was quite luxurious ; and as we gal- 
loped along I experienced a confirmed confidence in the 
goodness of that Providence to whose parental vigilance 
we are all so constantly indebted. We arrived at Rasgrad 
about eight o'clock at night, and stopped at an inn ; where, 
as usual, we were shown to the open gallery which com- 



BOORISH GROUP. 153 

municates with all the upper apartments ; the lower being 
entirely secluded from observation, and occupied by the 
family. A room was assigned to our use, but it was fast- 
ened on the outside by a padlock, the key of which could 
nowhere be found. A foolish-looking clown, with thick 
lips and staring eyes, attempted to open the lock with an 
immense knife, but without effect. The master at length 
came, and forced the hasp out of the door, which then per- 
mitted us to enter a tolerably good apartment. We sat 
upon the floor, and took coffee, while a fresh set of horses 
were prepared for our journey. 

At midnight, having galloped for nearly four hours with- 
out cessation, we arrived at a solitary hut. in which we 
espied a light. My Tartar generally contrived to have a 
rest and a pipe, at least, at that interval, and we accord- 
ingly dismounted. The door was upon the latch, and going 
in, we found a great log of wood burning in the middle of 
the floor, round which five peasants were sleeping. A boy 
was awake, to take care of the fire. We sat down with- 
out any ceremony, and enjoyed the warmth of the cham- 
ber, as the night was cold. My Tartar, who was a fine- 
looking man, though somewhat "bulky for a courier, had 
bound a silk handkerchief round his turban, to preserve it 
from the dust. Over the usual military dress he wore a 
large blue cloak, which he wrapped round his shoulders in 
the Spanish fashion. His pipe was a plain rod of cherry 
wood, with a red earthen head. Taking out his pistols 
and sabre, which were fastened within his cincture, he 
laid them on the floor, and proceeded to smoke, as if he 
felt himself quite at home. 

One of the peasants, disturbed by the voice of the Tar- 
tar, who directed the boy to go and fetch a fresh pitcher of 
water from the well outside the hut, opened his eyes and 
looked at us with ludicrous astonishment. An expression 
of terror kindled gradually over his countenance when he 
beheld the pistols and sabre glistening in the light of the 
fire. He shrunk into a corner, where he sat upon his 
haunches, apparently incapable of comprehending where 
he was, or how he could best make his escape. He then 
awoke his companions fearfully, who one after another 
gazed upon their unexpected visiters with a sort of awe, as 
if they were persuaded that it was all over with them, and 
we w r ere come to sacrifice them without farther inquiry. 
They must have been maurauders, for their own conscien- 
ces were evidently the most immediate sources of their 
alarm. Having rested a while and slaked our thirst from 
the pitcher of cool spring water, we pursued our road, to 
33 



154 



SHUMLA. 



the great delight of these boors, who were quite happy to 
get rid of us. 

We rode for about two hours, when the night became 
so dark that we could hardly see each other as we galloped 
along. Perceiving some fires among brushwood, at a dis- 
tance, we directed our horses towards them, and found 
several men and women sleeping near burning piles, under 
the shelter of the shrubs and brambles. In the dark ground 
behind was a large caravan of wagons, and numerous 
oxen resting for the night. We were most hospitably wel- 
comed by these people, who were immediately awoke by 
the salute of the Tartar. He seemed to be well known to 
them, and they placed mats for us by the side of their fire. 
We dismounted and sat down, when some cakes of excel- 
lent brown bread were brought. A whole one w T as put 
into my hands, and then a wooden keg was presented to 
me, from which I took a draught of the most delicious 
water I ever tasted. 

We waited here until the dark clouds with which the sky 
was overcast travelled away, and the stars shone out. 
The Tartar had much to say to his friends. He did not 
forget to relate to them the story of our accidental separa- 
tion, which induced them to look at me earnestly, as much 
as to ask, though in a kind manner, "How could you have 
done so?" 

We were now at the foot of the Balkans, which, after 
mounting our horses, w T e began to ascend by the light of a 
few stars that twinkled dimly in the heavens. The road 
was rough and winding, but the horses seemed well ac- 
quainted with it, and the distant lights of Shumla, now 
glimmering on the heights like a single taper, now scat- 
tered in various directions, cheered us through the difficul- 
ties of the way. We arrived at that celebrated town at 
four o'clock in the morning, amidst the barking of some 
hundred dogs, and rode to an inn, where we were imme- 
diately accommodated with coffee and apartments, the 
people being already up and stirring about the business 
of the day. 

I had my rug brought up and laid on the floor. Having 
then satisfied myself, by examining the panelled partitions 
of my chamber, that it had no communication with any 
other room, I locked my door, having previously entreated 
that the labours of a lad, who was pounding coffee in a 
mortar below, should be suspended. Placing my portman- 
teau at my head, I lay down much fatigued, hoping that I 
might have a few hours of re freshing sleep. I had scarce- 
ly slept an hour, however, when, just as the light of day 
was coming in at my window, a door which I had not. per- 



AN ANGRY TURK. 155 

ceived at the Head of my couch, opened, and a great Turk, 
half dressed, stepped over me. I presumed that seeing me 
there, he would not think of remaining in my room to dis- 
turb my repose. But I was very much mistaken ; for, 
approaching the window, he sat himself down near it in an 
armchair, having ejected from the said chair very uncere- 
moniously my coat, waistcoat and suspenders, of which I 
had disencumbered myself. Then calling through the 
window to his servant, he ordered his hooka to be brought, 
and crowned his impertinence by giving way to a violent 
cough with which he was afflicted. 

When the servant came, he could not, of course, open the 
door, as it was locked inside. The Turk was obliged to get 
up to open it, an exertion which annoyed him excessively. 
I had, moreover, the misfortune, on shutting the window 
before I lay down, to break a pane of the glass in endeav- 
ouring to close the frame that opened on a hinge, of which 
all the nails were loose. Here was another theme for his 
anger, which became violent. Every person belonging to 
the house was summoned to account for this occurrence, 
which was the more deeply resented, inasmuch as it was 
calculated, the morning being raw and misty, to increase 
the invalid's malady. I", at length, gave them to understand 
that I was the offender; upon which the Turk threw him- 
self back in his chair, took the end of his hooka in his 
mouth, and bubbled away as loud as he could, determined 
to revenge himself by rendering it impossible for me to 
sleep. In this object he effectually succeeded. I continued 
prostrate, however, until seven o'clock, when I rose and 
breakfasted capitally on brown bread and a bowl of boiled 
milk. There was a wagon in the yard, filled with grapes, 
which a Turk was preparing to tread out. A tub was placed 
beneath to receive the liquor, in which state, before the 
process of fermentation begins, it is a favourite beverage 
all over the country at this season of the year. I went to 
the wagon, and selecting a cluster of the grapes, helped 
myself, looking at the same time round for some person to 
whom I might pay the price of them. The owner made 
his appearance with a very surly frown on his face; but 
when I tendered him some pieces of silver, he, with a 
very different expression of feature, not only refused them, 
but picking out two or three of the best clusters he could 
find, substituted them for the inferior one which I had 
chosen for myself. 

We set out at eight o'clock in the morning, (October 13,) 
slowly ascending the mountains. I had no opportunity of 
examining the fortifications which Hussein Pasha was 
said to have erected at the side of the town by which we 



156 DIFFICULTIES OF THE WAT. 

had entered. On the side towards the Balkans I perceived 
no symptoms whatever of warlike preparation, though the 
abrupt precipices beneath which we rode for a while, afford- 
ed the most favourable positions for defences that might, I 
should suppose, be rendered almost impregnable ; as, from 
the nature of the ground, it would be difficult to bring ar- 
tillery to bear upon them. Passing into the more open 
country, we found it pretty well cultivated; the people 
were gathering the vintage everywhere, so that, during 
the whole day, we obtained abundance of fine grapes 
merely by asking for them. My limbs were a little jaded 
from riding so many hours at the rate we had hitherto 
travelled ; but, as we were now constantly ascending, we 
were obliged to slacken our pace ; 1 was therefore by no 
means so much knocked up as I had expected. My Tar- 
tar gave me reason to hope that we should arrive at Stam- 
boul on the evening of the following day, provided we 
could meet with good horses. 

The road through the mountains would certainly not have 
been deemed practicable for an English saddle-horse. It 
was simply marked over the natural rock by frequent use, 
no care whatever having been for one moment expended up- 
on it, even for the purpose of removing the loose stones, or 
breaking down the more prominent masses. Sometimes 
we rode over a track polished like ice by the winter tor- 
rents, on which, when ascending, we were obliged dili- 
gently to take a zigzag course ; when descending, to allow 
the animal now and then to slide at his own discretion. 
On other occasions, the near foot might be seen on a 
pointed rock, while the off leg was about to pounce into a 
hole, the hinder hoofs making the best of their way through 
boulder-stones, as if playing with them at marbles. 

It seemed to me, at first, an improper hazard of life to 
attempt to ride over such a road as this, where the horse 
and rider, even going at the most stealthy pace, were 
every moment in peril of being dashed to the ground. But 
the animals, though in England the whole five would not 
be deemed worth as many pounds, were so well accustom- 
ed to the business which they had to perform, that, be the 
disposition of the track what it might, they never, by any 
chance, made a false step. Their intelligence, prudence, 
courage, and extreme watchfulness for their own safety, 
as well as for that of the lives intrusted to their keeping, 
were wonderful. No human being could have executed 
their office with the uniform success which attended all 
their movements. So rapidly did they gain upon my confi- 
dence, that on levels, or even on declivities, I did not hesitate 
to follow my Tartar's example, when, with a view to re- 



BANDITTI. 157 

cover the time lost in ascending, or to escape quickly 
from a pass through a dense part of the woods, whence 
banditti sometimes fire upon the traveller, he absolutely 
galloped over these smooth or broken masses, both equal- 
ly dangerous, as if he were flying for his life. 

Nothing in nature can be more beautiful than the varie- 
ty, especially towards the close of the autumn, of the hues 
that distinguish the shrubs and trees which compose the 
forests of Mount Hasmus. On one side, as if for the pur- 
pose of ornament, an eminence, rising gradually from the 
torrent-bed over which we rode, and extending towards the 
heavens, was clothed to its summit with the most magnifi- 
cent shrubs, tinted with all shades of colour, light gold, rus- 
set brown, silver ash, pale green, scarlet red, orange, and 
the incomparable blue of the iris. Amidst these shrubs, 
the convolvulus, and other flowering creepers, suspended 
their festoons of bells, rivalling the delicate white of the 
lily, or the transparent pink of the wild rose. 

On the other side, the thick forests sometimes below us, 
sometimes threatening to march down upon us from their 
tremendous heights, rank long grass, ferns and brambles, 
branches interlacing with each other, old trees fallen in 
all directions and scathed by the lightning, rendering them 
impenetrable, seemed, indeed, peculiarly fitted to be the 
haunts of robbers. The assassin has only to place himself 
behind the trunk of a tree, wait until the wayfarer appears 
in view, then deliberately take his aim, and he can hardly 
fail to bring down his victim. Pursuit is altogether out of 
the question. Retaliation would be equally impracticable, 
as the murderer could not be seen. The traveller who is 
best armed, as in this case my Tartar was, is usually se- 
lected for the first experiment. The discharge is the sig- 
nal to the whole band, who are stationed at their posts 
along the edge of the forest, to be ready to fire at the re- 
maining fugitives; and then, when ail danger of a contest 
is over, the work of plunder commences. 

My Tartar and postillion were in a perfect fever during 
the whole time we were riding through these passes. We 
galloped the whole way, whether up or down the declivi- 
ties. Sometimes the road was occupied by caravans, and 
we were obliged to mount narrow and broken pathways, 
which we found or made upon its edge. But even over 
these tracks, where there was scarcely room for the horse's 
hoof, we flew with a speed which must have betrayed their 
terror. I do not affect to say that I was myself altogether 
free from alarm ; but I confess that I thought a great deal 
less of perils from banditti, than from the rocks over which 
I was obliged to pursue my companions. It was emphati* 
23* H 



158 DINNER. 

cally one of those instances of which I have occasionally 
seen other examples in the course of my life, where, in or- 
der to escape visionary dangers, real dangers were incur- 
red of a much more serious description. 

Heated and fatigued with our steeple chase, we at length 
rested on the summit of the lofty range on which we had 
been travelling all day, in a hut formed of planks inserted 
perpendicularly in the earth, and roofed with tiles, inhabit- 
ed by a solitary old man, who supplied us with coffee. In 
the evening we descended towards the lower ranges of the 
Balkans, which succeed each other like so many undula- 
tions, varying in height, but almost all destitute of trees, 
here and there speckled with brambles, sometimes covered 
with heath, but wholly unfit for any purpose of cultivation. 
My Tartar, therefore, had no longer any fears of banditti. 
We occasionally saw, in the sheltered valleys, considera- 
ble encampments of gipsies, but these wanderers excited 
no apprehension in his mind. Indeed they appeared eve- 
rywhere much more intent on enjoying the pleasures of 
music and dancing, or, preparing their meals at the fires 
which were lighted near their tents, than in meditating at- 
tacks upon travellers. At the same time, we prudently 
avoided making their acquaintance, being quite satisfied 
with the distant view of their tents and fires, and the groups 
moving around them — objects which in every climate are 
so picturesque — and with the sound of their pipes, violins, 
hurdy-gurdies, and tambarines, intermingled with the regu- 
lar stamping of the dancers, and the shouts of men and 
children, which echoed in joyful tones through the other- 
wise desolate mountains. 

Our horses having behaved so w 7 ell in conducting us 
without accident, and with such fearful expedition, over 
the first and highest ridge of the Balkans, I urged the Tar- 
tar to stop and allow them to be fed at one or two hamlets 
through which w T e rode. But my entreaties were in vain. 
He seemed to have no feeling whatever with respect to the 
unfortunate animals, except to urge them on as far as he 
could within the shortest possible space of time. I insist- 
ed, however, upon justice being done to them, and dis- 
mounting at the first house looking like an inn which I met 
on the road, I refused to go further until the horses were 
provided with corn. He observed, that if the horses were 
to dine there, so also must I ; a proceeding, however, to 
which I objected, as we were not more than two or three 
leagues distant from Karnabat, a town of some importance 
in Romania. However, he gave orders for dinner. An 
unhappy hen, who was amusing herself sauntering about 
the farmyard, was laid hold of by our landlady, who, hav- 



KARNABAT. 159 

ing gashed the jugular vein with skill, dipped the body into 
boiling water, plucked off the feathers, and in about an 
hour presented the victim to me boiled to rags, in a wooden 
Dowl, which looked so filthy that nothing could induce me 
to touch its contents. A wooden tray was also brought, 
with coarse, dirty salt, half-baked black bread, and a rusty 
knife. I resolutely deferred dining until we should stop 
for the night at the town already mentioned. The Tartar 
took his usual meal of bread, hard eggs, and onions; and 
when he saw that I would scarcely even look at the fowl, 
he deliberately wrapped it up in some paper, and put it in- 
to the haversack which dangled from his saddle — "a very 
useless precaution," thought I, " for if you do not eat it 
yourself, I am quite sure that nobody else will i" 

We remounted about seven o'clock in the evening. Our 
horses at first got on very well ; but after exerting them- 
selves for an hour or two, it became evident that the toils 
of the morning among the rough roads of the mountain, 
had literally knocked them up. Even at a moderate pace, 
we ought to have reached Karnabat at nine, but it was past 
eleven before we entered its gates, though we had seen the 
lights of the town the whole evening. I was a good deal 
fatigued, less from riding, which never affects me, than 
from the labour which it cost me to push my miserable 
horse forward. His limbs seemed to have lost all their vi- 
tal supply of lubricity. Every step was a stoppage. I 
should have greatly preferred walking, if that had not been 
rendered impracticable by my Turkish jack-boots, with 
pointed toes, which, as well as the heels, were turned up, 
so as to give the sole the complete form of the segment of 
a circle. 

However, I looked forward to the hope of finding good 
quarters at Karnabat, as most of the towns of Romania, 
being inhabited principally by Turks, are of a better de- 
scription than those in Bulgaria, which I had hitherto vis- 
ited. The proportion of Mussulmen in the latter province, 
is not considerable, and is dispersed through Vidin, Nicop- 
oli, Rutschuk, and Shumla. The great mass of its popula- 
tion consists of the Sclavonian race, who profess to be 
Christians, but who appear to have scarcely any houses of 
worship. 

The southern valleys of the Balkans seem to be favourite 
abodes of the gipsies, who occupy them without any fear 
of disturbance. How these people, who neither spin nor 
weave, nor cultivate the earth, clothe themselves so well, 
and accumulate the abundance of vegetables, flesh-meat, 
fowls, and rum, with which they are always provided, is to 
me as great a mystery as the origin of their tribes, and the 



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A DECENT JCHaN. 1(>1 

at length came to find me, and seeing that I was inflexible 
in my purpose, he conducted me to a khan of the first class, 
where I was delighted to find some appearance of decency. 
We knocked for a while before we were admitted, and 
we had some difficulty in finding vacant places on the di- 
van, as the inn was crowded. But two Turks, in the most 
civil manner, yielded us their stations in the principal 
chamber, and adjourned for the remainder of the night 
into another room. My supper was served about half- 
past twelve. Poached eggs floating in oil were first brought, 
which I could not reconcile, by any effort, to my taste. A 
dish of boiled rice next made its appearance, together with 
a bowl of milk, which I found excellent. Pickles were ap- 
pended to the rice, but I had no fancy for them ; and then 
some hard eggs made their appearance, which constituted 
the principal part of my meal. I closed this operation 
with a glass of hot rum and water ; after which, wrapping 
myself up in my cloak, I lay down on the cushion of the 
divan, and slept profoundly till seven o'clock the following 
morning. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

My companions — Kind attentions — Famine — Annihilation of a fowl — Living upon 
nothing — Disturbance — Still life— Consfernalion — A desolate town— Turks at 
prayers— Dinner— Alarming rumours — Chorlu — The sea of Marmora — Silivria— 
Street scene — A factotum— News of the day— Tartar generosity— negotiations. 

My companions w r ere all Turks, apparently of a very 
respectable class in society. Besides the divan, which 
afforded couches to six or seven persons, two others had 
mattresses on the floor. 

There was no want of fresh air in the room, as several 
panes of glass were broken in the windows. Indeed one 
whole frame which was papered all over fell in during the 
night, and had the temperature of the external atmosphere 
not been peculiarly mild, one of my new acquaintances, 
over whose face the morning breezes were playing, might 
have suffered from the accident. 

As soon as I emerged from the folds of my cloak, I be 
came an object of general attention to these gentlemen. 
One presented me immediately with his pipe, and looked 
very much astonished to find that the first thing I did on 
opening my eyes was not an act of conformity with the 
universal custom of smoking. Instead of chibouke, how- 

14* 



162 KIND ATTENTIONS, 

ever, T ordered a napkin and some water, which was 
brought to me in a pewter dish, and after making my toi- 
let in the best manner I could, I proceeded to write my 
iourna). My memory being full of the incidents of the 
preceding day, I of course wrote with great rapidity, 
being much more anxious to set down all the matter, than 
to impart to it any form of style. They followed my move- 
ments with surprise, the more especially as my mode of 
writing the characters from left to right was the reverse of 
their own, and they could not conceive how it was possible 
for me to create any character at all with the silver instru- 
ment which I held in my hand, and which borrowed no 
assistance from the ink-bottle. They smiled at each other, 
as much as to say, " These Englishmen are the strangest 
beings in the world, they have ways of their own for every 
thing." 

I unscrewed my pencil and showed them the mode in 
which it was constructed. Simple as it was they could 
scarcely be made to comprehend it. I very much regret- 
ted thai I had not brought a few of these instruments with 
me, for the purpose of presenting them to such persons as 
these, whose civility and good-nature deserved every re- 
turn I could make. While I was performing my ablutions 
one would hold the dish, another the napkin ; a third or- 
dered coffee for me. Then the pipe was again and again 
offered. My objection to this grand luxury of Turkish life 
seemed to them unaccountable. Then my suspenders be- 
came objects of examination, as well as my moveable 
shirt collar, and my black silk cravat. When I finished 
dressing by putting on my blue cloth cap, they seemed to 
look upon my lout ensemble as a complete puzzle. 

After breakfasting on a bowl of boiled milk, three or four 
eggs, and very good brown bread, I proceeded on my 
journey through the lower ranges of the Balkans. These 
mountains and valleys are almost wholly unpeopled. The 
few huts which we passed in the course of the day were of 
the most miserable description. The country is every- 
where so barren that the human beings who are scattered 
over it, few though they be, have scarcely any thing to live 
upon, W T e rode on until the afternoon without being able 
to find any accommodation either for man or horse. The 
fountains were all dried up, so that we could not obtain 
even a draught of water, which would have been the more 
acceptable, inasmuch as the day was inconveniently warm. 
At length we came to a little brook, by the side of which 
we were delighted to sit down. The Tartar, though mucn 
heated, stooped down and drank copiously from the spring 
with impunity. I did not dare to follow his example until 



ANNIHILATION OF A FOWL. 163 

I had rested a while, when he produced a bottle of rum. 
I prevailed on him and the postillion to empty it of a 
portion of its contents, after which I filled it with water 
from the brook. The mixture then was not only safe but 
truly delicious. It renovated my appetite, which had been 
sickened by long fasting and hard riding, but what was 
there to eat? 

My cunning Tartar then brought forth from his haver- 
sack the much-despised, the abhorred fowl of the previous 
evening, together with a loaf of bread and a paper of salt ! 
After a little reflection upon the vanity of all human reso- 
lutions, I was prevailed upon to sever a wing from the 
breast, and to taste the inside meat, to which I could dis- 
cover no just objection. I tried a similar experiment with 
the other wing, Which I w 7 as forced to admit to be equally 
free from any fair ground of impeachment. Both these 
members being pretty well dealt with, I thought there could 
be no harm in extending my acquaintance to the breast, 
w 7 hich disappeared in due time. The legs next became 
objects of curious inquiry, and fully answered my new-born 
expectations. The side-bones and " merrythought" plea- 
santly reminded me of the "soul," which soon established 
to my entire satisfaction the truth of the Pythagorian doc- 
trine, by migrating under my own superintendence into a 
different body. Finally, the back yielded up its treasures, 
and though I was in the land of Mahomet, I could not help 
being Catholic enough to pay my compliments to the 
" pope's nose." When I thought of my late cackling friend, 
w r ho sauntered about with so fine an air of self-compla- 
cency, now reduced to such a wonderful state of disorgan- 
ization, I convinced myself that her ladyship must have 
been guilty of some dreadful deed in this world or some 
other, which caused her to be thus decapitated, drawn, 
and quartered, I may say annihilated, with a degree of ex- 
pedition unprecedented in the " annals of crime." 

My guide, as usual, contented himself with hard eggs. 
How the postillion fared it was no business of mine to in- 
quire. I saw him at a distance, chewing something. He 
had plenty of water, at all events, and so had our horses ; 
who, moreover, feasted on some brambles. I began to 
think that Turkish horses have the peculiar faculty of liv- 
ing upon nothing ; and as they made no objection to going 
on, I thought it would be words thrown away to attempt to 
persuade them of their folly in resolving to gallop over 
these boundless wastes without so much as a straw in their 
inside. A fresh relay at nine o'clock, which we procured 
at a wretched hamlet, enabled us to pursue our journey 
rapidly the whole night; the moon lighted our way until 



164 DISTURBANCE. 

the morning came, and disclosed Adrianople in the dis- 
tance. 

From the various descriptions which I had read of this 
city, second only to Stamboul itself, I had expected to find 
it characterized by a considerable degree of splendour. 
The cupolas and minarets of its numerous mosques un- 
doubtedly do afford to the traveller, for some time before 
he enters it, ample grounds for believing that he is about to 
visit an important, well inhabited, and flourishing town. 
But though not wholly disappointed, this expectation is 
much attenuated by the time he reaches his khan, after 
riding through the principal streets^ which, beyond the 
usual variety of shops, supply no materials for admiration, 

1 was feverish after my long uninterrupted ride, and 
mingled cold water copiously with my coffee. The 
Tartar seemed to have no intention of resting ; but I in- 
sisted on being shown to a chamber, where I was deter- 
mined on remaining for five or six hours, even if I could 
not sleep. By way of precaution I discarded all the pil- 
lows and cushions which I found in the room, as they were 
by no means inviting ; and spreading my rug on the floor, 
with my carpet-bag for a pillow, I enjoyed, for about two 
hours, a most delicious slumber. 

A rascally boy then came to knock at my door, which I 
had contrived, very much to his astonishment, to fasten on 
the inside. I pretended not to hear him for a while, sus- 
pecting he was a messenger from my more villanous 
Tartar. But he knocked and pushed and kicked at my 
barricades, until he succeeded in forcing the door a suffi- 
cient distance from the jamb to enable him to take a view 
of my person. This was impertinent. I therefore got up 
and let him in. Whereupon I laid my whip upon his 
shoulders until he was very glad to make his escape by 
jumping down a whole flight of stairs. The chatter of cus- 
tomers in a butcher's shop immediately under my window, 
the noise of people walking and talking in the street, each 
group of gossips seeming to have a particular fancy for 
stopping in my neighbourhood, the sound of ungreased 
wagon-wheels, creaking over the rough roads below, the 
bellow of oxen, and the occasional shouts of children, all 
conspired to assure me that further forgetfulness was, for 
that day, out of the question. 

However, I continued in the attitude of repose, and as I 
^ uld not keep my eyes shut, I amused myself in observing 
the still life of a tailor's shop opposite, which appeared to 
be the favourite lounge of all the idlers of the town. The 
master and three journeymen were seated in the Turkish 
rasnion, wnich tailors have adopted in every age and clime 



CONSTERNATION. 165 

Three visiters took their seats also on the board, smoking 
their Jong pipes, and looking on with profound gravity at the 
perpetual passing and repassing of the needles and threads 
through the cloth, which was destined, in due season, to be- 
come a waistcoat or a pair of trousers. Not a word escaped 
any of the party. A voluptuous, well-dressed, fine looking 
man, with a long gold-headed cane balanced in one hand, 
and his immense pipe in the other, next made his appearance. 
He could not go by the shop without " looking in." Kindling 
his pipe, he also took his station on the board, and while his 
charge of tobacco lasted, seemed the happiest of mortals. 
When the last puff expired he quitted his seat, walked down 
the street, paid a visit to a tinman, smoked another pipe, 
came back, sat down again in the tailors shop, where he 
found the whole party undisturbed, iiiled his pipe again, ex- 
hausted it, and then seemed fairly at a loss to know what he 
was next to do. He looked up the street, down the street, 
went out, came back, stood a few minutes at the door in a 
state of listlessness, within a degree of petrification, and, 
at length, resolutely disappeared. 

Being somewhat refreshed, I proceeded to what I should 
call the kitchen, but which the Turks treat as a coffee-room, 
where several Adrianopolites were assembled, sipping their 
universal beverage, amidst clouds of their fragrant tobac- 
co. Here I learned, very much to my consternation, that 
the Russians were in the Bosphorus, preparing to take 
possession of Constantinople. I inquired by what means 
this intelligence had arrived, as when I left Vienna noth- 
ing of that kind had transpired. The answer was, that a 
courier from the English embassy had just passed through 
on his way -to Semiiri, and that it was expected that Eng- 
land would immediately declare war against the Emperor. 
As ail this was conveyed to me in broken French and Ital 
ian, I concluded at first that I misunderstood what was said, 
and that they were speaking of the events of 1833, not of 
the present year. But I was positively assured that the 
Russian fleet and troops had arrived a few days ago in 
the Bosphorus, and that unless England should in time 
prevent them, they would soon be the masters, not only of 
the capital, but of ail Turkey. While this conversation 
was going on they gathered gradually around me, and 
expressed themselves quite anxious to know whether I 
thought that my countrymen would really come to their 
protection. They appeared to despair of being able to do 
any thing in their own defence, and even accustomed to 
the idea of resigning themselves to Russian supremacy, 
unless England interposed in their behalf. I expressed my 
confident liope that the intelligence was at least prema- 
34 



100 TURKS AT PRAYERS. 

fure ; but if it were true, I conceived that not only Eng- 
land but France also could hardly contemplate such pro- 
ceedings with indifference. 

Our horses having been announced, we took our depart- 
ure at noon, and arrived at Burgas at four o'clock. This 
town has more of a European aspect at a distance than 
any I had yet seen in Turkey. It boasts of several mosques, 
and other public buildings of great extent, which give it 
an appearance of grandeur. But on strolling through the 
streets I found them almost a wilderness. The edifices 
which I had expected to see inhabited as palaces, or used 
as public institutions, were abandoned to the wands and 
rain. The fountains, w r hich, in a former age, had been 
beautifully decorated with marble, were thrown down and 
neglected. The cloisters of the mosques, which in one or 
two instances were upon a most magnificent scale, had 
become the safe abode of wildcats and dogs, owls and 
ravens, whose croaking added not a little to the desolation 
of the scene. The mosques were all out of repair. 

A boy proclaimed, from the top of a minaret, in the usual 
terms,* the hour of evening service, while' I happened to 
be at the gate of one of these temples. It was immediately 
opened. Eight or ten wTetehed-looking devotees emerged 
from different quarters of the cloisters, washed their feet 
at the ruinous fountain, and leaving their slippers outside 
the door, entered the mosque. I did not deem it prudent 
to follow their example, as I w 7 as alone. 

But I stood unmolested at the door, which remained 
open. Lamps, like those we use in illuminations, were 
lighted, suspended from the roof, almost low enough to 
touch the head of a man standing. The thin congregation 
were arranged in a semicircle, and all joined aloud in 
prayers, m tones not unlike those in use among the Jews, 
but without being quite so boisterous, and with every ex- 
ternal appearance, at least, of profound devotion to the 
great Father of the universe, toward whose abode in hea- 
ven, their eyes were constantly directed. 

I dined on rice and haricot, mutton, which, by the way, I 
had great difficulty in compelling my Tartar to order, as 
he would have preferred limiting my fare to eggs, which 
cost less money. He was a most penurious caterer, and 
if by inflexible firmness I had not gained an ascendency 
over him, he would have starved me through the whole 
journey. I mention these things, in order that future trav- 
ellers in Turkey may be prepared to adopt the same 

_* La Allah Ua Allah, Muhammcd Resoul Allah~i.No God but God. 
Mahomet Prophet of God.) 



ALARMING RUMOURS. 167 

course — the only one that will satisfactorily carry them 
through the difficulties attending a journey in that country. 
I think it may be assumed as a general principle, that 
though your personal safety is assured in the hands of a 
Tartar, your digestive organs will not have much reason 
to thank him if he can help it. 

While I was engaged at my humble meal, several per- 
sons, as usual, came to witness my operations. A meat 
dinner appears to be in Turkey a public exhibition ; but I 
must do my spectators the justice to say, that the chief at- 
traction of the scene was the national character of the 
principal performer, whom they treated with the utmost 
respect. I began to feel myself somebody of distinction, 
and to have doubts of my personal identity, as all my habits 
and tastes were formed amid the shades of life, wherever I 
could find them. But here I was invested with a charac- 
ter which seemed, in the opinion of the Turks, to place me 
at an immeasurable distance above themselves on the scale 
of existence. They saw in me — a simple, dusty-coated, 
jack-booted, unshaven, travel-stained equestrian — nothing 
but my country, of whose power to accomplish whatever 
she resolves to do in any quarter of the world, they ap- 
peared to entertain the most entire conviction. 

The report of the Russians being at Constantinople was 
here repeated by every tongue. It was added, that a con- 
spiracy had broken out there about a fortnight before; that 
there had been much fighting in the streets ; that Pera had 
been again laid waste by flames ; that the sultan was a 
prisoner in the seraglio ; and that the imperial flag of Rus- 
sia was waving over the Seven Towers. These additional 
circumstances seriously affected the obstinacy with which 
I had hitherto treated the whole story as a fabrication ; I 
even began to think whether I ought to proceed any fur- 
ther; as, if the news thus thickening upon me were true, 
a solitary Briton would have little chance of safety within 
the walls of Constantinople. However, I resolved to go 
on. As I was mounting my horse, several of my new 
friends pressed their hands on my shoulder in a warm and 
even affectionate manner, exclaiming, in energetic terms, 
"England and the Sultan at Stamboul — the Russians in 
the sea P 7 There was a slight " hurra !" when we rode off; 
and one of the Turks accompanied me through the streets, 
pressing his hand upon my knee. The excitement of this 
scene rendered me extremely anxious to learn the real 
state of affairs at the capital. My host had procured for 
me, without any solicitation on my part, the best horse he 
could find at Burgas — a Une Arabian, as gentle as a child, 
as fleet as the wind ? and almost as indefatigable. 



168 SILIVRIA. 

We rode, without cessation, through the bngnt night for 
eight hours, and arrived about three o'clock in the morning 
at~Chorlu, where I was shown into a filthy room in an out- 
house, as I had no fancy for sleeping in a stable. I lay- 
down upon a mat on the floor, and slept soundly until 
seven, when, after a good breakfast on eggs, brown bread, 
syllabub, and grapes, which I found here remarkably fine, 
we resumed our journey with fresh horses, very much in- 
ferior to those we had during the night. 

The morning was misty, but the sun soon shone out, 
and my heart bounded with delight, when, on galloping 
along the ridge of an eminence, I beheld, glittering in the 
distance on my right, the waters of the sea of Marmora. 
They appeared through the refraction of the misty air as 
if they were in the sky, but the white sails stealing over 
their surface convinced me that I was under no delusion. 
Those waters would soon mingle with the Mediterranean, 
the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, which washed my 
native shores. Some of those sails were most probably 
lately from England, or now returning thither. These 
are the associations which make an Englishman feel eve- 
rywhere, when he approaches the sea, as if he were once 
more at home ! 

Our horses being very sorry animals, we were obliged, 
after the first hour or two, to ride at a snail's pace. Siliv- 
ria, with its picturesque castle and fortifications reposing 
on the vast blue lake of Marmora, was in sight all day, 
but we did not arrive there until two o'clock in the after- 
noon. The town was filled with Turkish soldiers, dressed 
in the new uniform of the country— blue round jacket, vest, 
and trousers, the red Greek cap with blue silk tassel, strong 
square-toed shoes, and white cotton stockings. They pre- 
sented a most unmilitary appearance, and I concluded at 
once, from the reports with which my mind had been filled, 
that they were flying in dismay from Constantinople. 

On dismounting at a caravansary, which was midway 
down the principal street, I was conducted to an open 
balcony, where mats were spread. The scene before me 
was not magnificent. The street was shaded bv a few 
large trees, planted on each side. You may imagine how 
it was paved, if you have ever seen a street in London 
when the pavement is taken up. A stream of muddy water 
ran through the middle, leaving in its course a pool near a 
dunghill, on the top of which an old pelican was strutting, 
apparently the master of that position, much to the envy 
of a poor hen, who was looking up at him wistfully. and 
also of a cat, who seemed to be thinking how she could 
best dislodge the usurper. But he was on his guard against 



NEWS OF THE DAY. 169 

both his enemies, now looking down on one, now on the 
other, fiercely. 

Two little pug-dogs were busy at a game of romps, run- 
ning here and there, grappling with each other, rolling 
each other over, biting the back of each other's neck, leg, 
or tail, without hurting it, barking in well-feigned passion, 
the fugitive turning on the pursuer, who, in his turn, affect- 
ed a retreat Some sturdy cocks were gadding about, 
crowing at intervals, to remind the world of their import- 
ance. Geese and ducks frequented the pool, and every 
time a cock crew they gabbled in chorus. The sound 
made the pelican tremble on his throne. 

Seated on a stone near a gateway was a genteel, well- 
dressed Turkish boy, afflicted by a nervous affection in 
the face, which every two or three minutes drew up the 
right corner of his mouth close to his ear. His whole oc- 
cupation was looking at me, an occupation w T hich detained 
him on his stone three hours without a moment's interrup- 
tion. A little way down the street w r as the tomb of a saint, 
a circular edifice, roofed with wood, and railed all round; 
upon an elevated platform within, the holy man was laid 
out in the dress in which he died a century ago. He pre- 
sented as yet no visible signs of decay, which proved his 
title to canonization 1 

An Italian, half idiot, half knave, wretchedly attired, the 
factotum of the caravansary, introduced himself to my 
acquaintance, and asked me if I were not much fatigued, 
offered at the same time his services to procure me some 
sea-water, which he strongly recommended as an applica- 
tion of sovereign power to any part of my frame that might 
have been- affected by the saddle. Although somewhat 
jaded I had no occasion to accept his advice, though I 
should have been extremely glad to dip in a warm sea-bath 
if such a thing were to be found in Silivria. Nothing of 
the sort was to be had, but there was a vapour bath^ in 
which I might be shampooed if I thought fit. But the sense 
of suffocation with which that operation is attended, for- 
bade the experiment. 

I inquired the news from Constantinople. " All quiet." 
— "What! no revolution?*' — " Revolution! O yes; that 
was all over." — a And the Russians have come to Constan- 
tinople !" — "Yes ; the Russians came, and have gone again, 
Signor !" — " How long is it since they went away ?" — " A 
year ago, Signor." — "A year ago ! what do you mean?" — 
" I mean two years ago, Signor." — " What are all these sol- 
diers about?" — " Some are getting shaved, Signor." — "Pohl 
I mean, where are they going?" — " I saw two of them just 
now going to bed, Signor."—" But whither are they march- 
34* 



170 NEGOTIATIONS. 

in cr?»— "Nowhere, Signor, for they are all boys, and have 
not learned to march yet?' 5 — "Where have they come 
from V— " StambouL"— " Oh ! I see you are a Turk, though 
you have not put on the turban. 55 —" Sometimes a Turk, 
Signor, sometimes nothing at all. 55 — " What are these sol- 
diers about? 55 — " Do you see these men coming up the 
street, Signor, one of them with half a sheep on his back?" 
— " I do. 55 — " Well, Signor, these men are about to get their 
supper. 55 

Finding that I had no prospect of extorting any political 
information from this addle-pated Italian, I engaged his 
services in the culinary line, desiring him to proceed forth- 
with to the cookVshop, and get me some stewed mutton 
for dinner. He fled, delighted with his mission, already 
contemplating with such an eye as his mind possessed, the 
probability of there being fragments w 7 hich might fall to 
his share. He returned immediately, however, rather 
downcast, followed by my Tartar, who, with an effrontery 
too ridiculous for anger, assured me that not a morsel of 
mutton, or of meat of any kind, was to be had in the town, 
the troops having consumed the whole stock of that article 
in the trade. I directed their attention to a butcher 5 s stall 
opposite, where too men were engaged cutting up, or rather 
cutting down, a sheep with a sabre, and to another shop in 
the lower part of the street, wiiere similar operations were 
in progress. "Those sheep, 55 said the Tartar, "are all 
bought up for the army, which is going to Adrianople : I 
can get nothing for you but some eggs. 55 

I rose from my mat, and bade them attend me to one of 
the shops which I had noticed, where, through the medium 
of the Italian, no unwilling interpreter on the occasion, a 
negotiation was immediately concluded upon the subject 
of a leg of the said mutton, which being separated from the 
other members by a sabre, was taken possession of by my 
accomplice, who triumphantly posted away with it to the 
cook's-shop at the further end of the street. 



A WHITE COCK. 171 



CHAPTER XVII. 

A white cock — Russian agency— Specimen of cookery — Dining in state— Depart- 
ure from Silivria — Mahometan causeway — Perilous roads — Knowing horses — 
First view of Constant inople — Advantages of its position— Extent of its capabili- 
ties — An abstracted goose— Entrance of the capital- Pera— Vitali's hotel— The 
plague— Character of the malady — Armenian funeral—Associations — Funeral of 
a Greek. 

I sauntered about Silivria for some time, amused by the 
novel and animated scene which it presented. Several 
large charcoal fires were made up in pans in the street, on 
which kettles containing pieces of meat, onions, and other 
vegetables, were boiling, surrounded by groups of soldiers, 
who fanned the fires occasionally with a turkey's wing. 
Here a baker was as busy as he could possibly be, serving 
out cakes of bread, just taken from the oven, to soldiers 
who passed tn single file before his window. A beautiful 
white cock was a conspicuous character all day: he seem- 
ed to think that the whole of these preparations were going 
on for persons very much inferior to himself in all the re- 
quisites of dignity. Flies swarmed in all directions. The 
balconies of "the caffmes were filled with Turks, who, as 
usual, sipped their nectar, smoked, and continued for hours 
gazing at vacancy. I was honoured by a look from a Mus- 
sulman who was idling about like myself, one hand in his 
breeches pocket, while the other wielded his pipe and a 
switch. A boy walking along with a pitcher of water on 
his head, seemed also very much astonished at my appear- 
ance in Silivria, a feeling in which he was joined by a shoe- 
maker, who was taking home a pair of mended slippers to 
a customer hard by. 

A fruitman seemed to be making his fortune amongst the 
recruits, to whom he had already disposed of five or six 
large baskets of very fine fresh grapes. He had still a few 
clusters remaining, which I purchased for a small silver 
coin, equivalent to about twopence of our money. Even 
out of this he gave me some change in copper, which I pre- 
sented to a decent-looking beggar-woman, who was going 
about from shop to shop veiled. A string of camels laden 
with merchandise, and, as usual, led by a donkey, entered 
the town from the Constantinople road, their loud bells 
tinkling as they paced along. They lay down in the mid- 
dle of the street, while their drivers went in search of re- 
freshment Here and there the merry tones of the xebeck 
were heard from latticed windows. 

While I was thus roving about, one of a group of soldiers 
who were sitting on a wall, addressed me in good French* 



172 RUSSIAN AGENCY. 

He turned out to be a Corsican, who, by some vicissitude 
of fortune, was enlisted in the Mahomedan service. From 
him I learned that Constantinople was perfectly tranquil-— 
that no tumults had recently occurred there— and that the 
Russians, as he expressed it, had ' ; not yet" possession of 
Constantinople, nor had they "yef even returned to the 
Bosphorus. He placed such an emphasis on his pas en- 
cores, that I instinctively assumed him to be a Russian spy. 
There can be no doubt at all that Russian agency is at full 
work in every part of Turkey; and that the stories which 
I heard on the road were the inventions of men well paid 
for propagating them, under the impression that, by means 
of that kind, Mussulmen will become reconciled, by so often 
hearing of Russian invasion, to the ultimate result of Rus- 
sian supremacy. But this will be found a most serious mis- 
take, if I have read the Turkish mind with any thing like 
critical accuracy. 

By the time 1 returned to my balcony, I fully expected 
that my dinner would have been there before me, but no 
symptom of it was perceptible. I called the factotum to 
account, who assured me that it would be ready in a few 
minutes. I waited for half an hour, when I sent him to 
make inquiries. He returned with a question how I wish- 
ed it to be done ? I desired it to be plainly boiled, and sent 
to me in its own gravy, without any rice or oil. He came 
back, after the lapse of another half hour, with a piece of 
the meat in his hand, by way of a sample for me to taste, 
and say whether it was boiled enough ! I objected to touch 
this precious fragment, which he had dug out of my leg of 
mutton with the dirtiest fingers I ever beheld, and directed 
the dish, such as it was, to be served without farther delay. 

At length the mutton made its appearance, in a wooden 
dish, without any accompaniment of any kind ! There was 
not even a grain of salt. The cook ran off in one direc- 
tion, the Italian in another, and, in about a quarter of an 
hour, the latter returned with a little coarse salt in a bit of 
greasy paper. Then there was no bread. Off scampered 
the Italian to a baker's shop, whence he brought back a 
smoking hot roll, which he put into my hand. Meantime 
my Tartar came to claim his share of the spoil, which he 
by no means deserved. I cut out some slices, however, 
for myself, with his knife, and gave him up the remainder, 
My repast was soon over; but after all, not unsatisfactory, 
concluding with coffee and grapes. I was glad to see that 
something continued in the wooden dish for my faithful 
auxiliary, for which he waited with a keen eye, but at the 
same time with exemplary patience. This dinner scene 
passed in the balcony, open to all the street; and I had the 



DEPARTURE FROM SILIVRIA. 173 

felicity of being closely observed, during the whoie trans- 
action, by a group of gaping recruits and ragged children. 

We found some difficulty in procuring four horses at 
Silivria: at length, about seven o'clock in the evening, we 
mounted a set of animals of the most wretched descrip- 
tion, already fatigued, as I afterwards learned, by a long 
journey, from which they had rested only a few hours. We 
set out by the light of the moon, and, in about an hour, 
reached a very handsome khan, where we took coffee. We 
then proceeded along the beach of Marmora, the murmur 
of whose gentle waves, borne on the fresh atmosphere of 
the sea, fell upon my heart like a spring shower on the 
parched earth." At midnight we arrived near the once mag- 
nificent series of bridges which, in a former age, were 
erected over a wide arm of the sea, and considerably short- 
en the road to Constantinople. Clouds having set in and 
darkened the night, a thunder-storm and violent rains came 
on, which compelled us to take shelter in the gateway of 
an inn at the foot of the principal bridge. We dismounted 
and rested here until four o'clock, when we again proceed- 
ed on our journey. 

From these bridges to Constantinople a causeway has 
been constructed upon the plan of the ancient Roman 
roads. But, like the bridges across the arms of the Mar- 
mora, it has fallen into such a state of ruin as to become 
infinitely more a source of danger than of convenience to 
the traveller. It is as bad as the worst parts of the track 
over the Balkans. Had the sultan taken pains to render 
his capital inaccessible to cavalry on the side of Silivria, 
no engineer could have broken up the causeway, which in 
some places is the only road, with more skill, with a view 
to render it perilous, than time and shameful negligence 
have done throughout the whole of the line. Five hundred 
or a thousand men, employed for a fortnight, would, at a 
trifling expense, restore it to its pristine solidity and beau- 
ty. But the genius of decay seems to have paralyzed, for 
the present, the wonted energies of the Turkish people. 

The soil through which this causeway runs, is in gene- 
ral a soft clay, upon some more adhesive strata, which do 
not rapidly absorb the humid atmosphere of the neighbour- 
ing waters. The consequence is, that when heavy rains 
have fallen, the earth becomes so slippery that it requires 
the greatest care on the part of the rider to preserve his 
horse from slipping at every step, when he is not on the 
causeway, which, for the greater portion of it, is absolutely 
impassable. My Tartar, a bulky man, was seated on a 
wretched pony/ which came down three or four times. 
Once the animal lost footing for both his hinder legs and 

15* 



174 PERILOUS ROADS. 

stuck so firmly in the mud on his haunches, that the Tar- 
tar tumbled backwards, head over heels. He got up in a 
fury, and assailed the postillion in such a storm of passion, 
that I thought he would have ended by shooting him. How- 
ever, he was content with compelling the man to give up 
his own horse and mount the pony. 

In a few minutes after, down came the unfortunate pos- 
tillion in a marsh, whence we had great difficulty in extri- 
cating him, covered all over with mud. I held a tight rein, 
and though my Rosinante stumbled at every fourth or fifth 
step, I had the good fortune to escape the general destiny. 
Even the baggage-horse was tripped up repeatedly, falling 
sometimes on his haunches, sometimes rolling quite over 
on his back, his legs dancing in the air. Whether ridiag 
on a level, ascending or descending the numerous hills 
which intervene between the bridges and the capital, the 
peril was the same. The horses seemed painfully con- 
scious of the difficulties which they had to go through, and 
whenever they could get upon the causeway, they prefer- 
red it, picking their steps through the stones with marvel- 
lous ingenuity. To the less experienced traveller, however, 
the change appeared to be only " from the frying-pan into 
the fire." 

At length we entered on a more sandy track, and rode 
with less toil until the day returned ; when, from the top of 
the highest eminence we had yet ascended, we beheld, at 
three leagues distance below^ the Ottoman capital, still re- 
posing in the twilight of early morning. The east soon 
after began to redden, and the sun rose, in all his Asiatic 
glory, over the mountains behind Scutari, which almost 
touched the sky. Their tabled summits were already spread 
with cloth of gold, and clouds of fiery dust were rolling 
around, as if raised by the march of armies tending towards 
that splendid plain for encampment. The crescents and 
spires of the white minarets, the tall green cypresses, the 
minarets of nature, greatly excelling the others in the so- 
lemnity of their beauty, shone out in the descending beams. 
The venerable watch-towers and the countless domes of 
the mosques were all illumined, and then the castellated bat- 
tlements, caravansaries, bazaars, and palaces, extending 
in a long line to the waters of the Marmora, which reflect- 
ed the blaze. Seen at that moment of enchantment, Con- 
stantinople, distinguished from all other European capitals 
by its oriental architecture, whose filagree Arabesques be- 
came transparent in the light, and rising from amidst 
groves, and cemeteries, and gardens, where the foliage and 
the flowers of summer were still in bloom, looked less a re* 
ality than the vision of some Persian tale,. 



ABSTRACTED GOOSE. 175 

It was unnecessary for my Tartar to point downwards 
and say, " There is Stamboul !" The capital of the Con- 
stantines has no rival upon this planet of ours, in external 
appearance, at least, and in the peculiar advantages of its 
position. Having free access to the Mediterranean through 
the Hellespont, it may. with every possible facility, defend 
itself at the Dardanelles from a maritime force, and having 
shut its gates at that point, may withdraw to the Marmora, 
the Bosphorus, or the Euxine, repair there its ships, build 
new fleets, equip and abundantly provision them from a 
populous and fertile territory, and rush out again upon its 
enemies with an overwhelming force. Or if the chieftain 
who is master of Stamboul choose not to run the further 
risk of maritime war, he need only put the key of his gates 
at the Dardanelles in his pocket, turn his men of war into 
merchant ships, and find employment for them in trading 
along the coasts of Turkey, Asia Minor, the whole of the 
borders of the Black Sea, to which the silks of Broussa, 
the carpets and brocades of Persia, the rice, and fruits, 
and corn of all that territory, and the riches of central and 
southern Russia, are brought. 

If not content with the field of the Euxine, he may ex- 
tend his commerce, without a single convoy, along the 
Danube to Wallachia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Servia, and 
Austria, attracting within his reach, in exchange for the 
productions of the East, the spoils of all Germany. When 
the Danube shall be united with the Rhine, by means of the 
canal now about to be formed, the ruler of Constantinople, 
though at war with Syria, the Barbary States, Egypt, 
Greece, France, Spain, England, and the two Americas, 
may not only live in safety within his castles, but carry 
his trade to the very verge of the British channel, fearless 
of all the naval powers in the world! 

While I was indulging in these fine speculations, my 
revery was turned into uncontrollable laughter by a lad 
whom we overtook, riding behind a stately Turk, having 
at his saddle-bow a bag, from which a goose was looking 
out. The picture was an odd contrast to my airy dreams, 
and was not a little heightened, when the winged prisoner, 
effecting his escape, ran off towards the home from which 
he had been just abstracted. The Turk was discomposed, 
the lad went off in chase of the goose, which his lordship 
had intended for his dinner. But though he would not 
wait to witness the result of the pursuit, he cast many a 
"longing, lingering look behind," until at length the boy re- 
turned in triumph, and tied up the goose again in his bag, 
allowing him, as before, to look at the beauteous world 
which he was soon to leave. 



176 ENTRANCE TO THE CAPITAL. 

As we approached the outer gate of Constantinople, we 
were confined entirely to the causeway, the sands being 
deep and marshy. It was, gently speaking, a most execra- 
ble road. If our animals, from long experience, and the 
judicious selection which marked all their steps, had not 
been enabled to w T ork miracles, I know not how we could 
have got on. It was half-past ten o'clock when we passed 
the gate, where my firman was exhibited. We then pur- 
sued our way through numerous cemeteries, planted with 
cypresses, and crowded with gravestones, usually small 
round columns, carved at the top in the figure of a turban. 
As I was hastening as w T ell as I could after my Tartar, 
through these desperate defiles, a fine-looking Turk stop- 
ped me, broke a w r alnut in his hand, and divided it with 
me. It was his mode of bidding me welcome to my desti- 
nation. 

After leaving the receptacles of the dead, which were 
very extensive, and afforded, by their numberless fresh 
graves, abundant evidence of the havoc which the plague 
had recently made, we entered the streets, and were im- 
mediately in the midst of the industry and bustle of a great 
city. Riding to the edge of the " Golden Horn," as the 
inner harbour is called, I gladly dismounted, and transfer- 
red my weary limbs to a boat, where my luggage and Tar- 
tar were also speedily deposited. In a few minutes we 
were landed at Galata, whence we walked on to Pera. and 
found a French youth, who conducted us to Vitali's hotel, 
familiarly called Giusepino's, in the Strada Santa Maria, 
and almost next door to the church of the Holy Trinity. 

The hotel was full of Englishmen ; but Vitali very civilly 
offered to fit up for me, in an hour or two, a chamber at 
the top of his house, which presented magnificent views of 
Constantinople. My goods and my person having been 
then fumigated — as, through ignorance, I had taken no 
precautions whatever in passing through crowds amongst 
which the pestilence was absolutely raging — I was admit- 
ted to intercourse; breakfasted, reposed a while on a sofa, 
then, with infinite delight, changed my travelling attire, 
and noted in my journal, that, calculating to a moment, I 
had thus been exactly five days and nights on the road 
from Rutschuk to the gate of the capital. This was con* 
sidered a good journey, as, although the Tartars perform 
it in three days and nights, when great expedition is re- 
quired, travellers seldom go over the w T hole ground in less 
than nine. The expectation, therefore, held" out to me at 
the commencement of my ride, that I might accomplish 
it within three days, w T as all moonshine. 

Vitali's account of the plague was alarming. Within 



THE PLAGUE. 177 

the last week it had considerably diminished, but suddenly- 
returned again with more violence than ever, and in the 
city no fewer than fifteen hundred victims had been num- 
bered with the dead only the day before. At Galata and 
Pera a few deaths had also occurred, and even Therapia, 
higher up the Bosphorus, was said not to be exempt from 
the contagion. He confirmed the reports of Mr. Wood's 
death ; but I afterwards learned that, in point of fact, that 
gentleman had recovered from the plague by the applica- 
tion of prompt, judicious, and vigorous measures ; that 
being then in a very weakly state, he unfortunately ac- 
cepted the advice of an Ionian quack, who promised to re- 
store his strength rapidly by the use of a potion which he 
carried about as a sovereign remedy in all cases of debili- 
ty, and that the patient died of the dose, in consequence of 
its having been too powerful for his then wasted consti- 
tution. 

Mr. Cartwright, the British Consul-General, who lived 
nearly opposite to Vitali's, and to whom I lost no time in 
paying my respects, also assured me that he had himself 
recovered from the plague, by the adoption of timely ap- 
plications ; that the malady was, in truth, nothing more 
than a violent typhus fever, which, if permitted to reach 
its height, seemed to be in all cases fatal, but if met in the 
beginning by medical skill, and determination on the part 
of the sufferer, it yielded the contest, though the poison 
which it diffused through the veins was felt for a long time 
after. The first symptoms of the malady are swellings 
under the arms, which, if not opened at once, spread in an 
hour over -the whole frame. The only precautions, he 
said, which I could adopt, were to procure airy apart- 
ments, to live generously, to be attentive to personal 
cleanliness, and when I walked out to carry in my hand 
a substantial cane, by which I should prevent anybody 
whomsoever from touching me even with the hem of his 
garment. I found it awkward enough at first to guide my 
way through the very narrow streets of Pera, especially 
during the hours when they were most crowded, by poking 
people away, now at one side, now at the other. But the 
same thing, 1 observed, was done by every passenger ; it 
was no rudeness, for it w T as the result of a universally un- 
derstood necessity ; and I soon found that I was not more 
anxious to avoid coming into contact with others, than 
they were to shun too near an approach to me. 

As I was returning from the consul's, where I had the 
happiness to find letters from home, to my hotel, I met an 
Armenian funeral procession passing along the street, 
35 



178 ASSOCIATIONS. 

formed of a long double file of men, preceded by several 
priests and choir-boys, who were singing the Roman Cath- 
olic anthems of the dead, bearing a large silver crucifix, a 
vase of holy water, a pan of incense, smoking censers, and 
lighted tapers ; the priests in their stoles, surplices, cas- 
socks, and caps ; the boys in surplices and cassocks ; all 
moving on with as much order and freedom as I had ever 
observed in any part of Spain. A black velvet pall was 
thrown over the coffin, which six men sustained on their 
shoulders. I followed the procession to the Frank ceme- 
tery, which was at the distance of about a mile higher up 
the Bosphorus. When they arrived at the newly-made 
grave, the concluding psalms and prayers, closed by that 
solemn and affecting series of supplications, the De Pro- 
fundis, were read by the officiating clergyman, and re- 
sponded to by the crowd, in a manner that made me feel 
at once as if I were not in a Mahomedan but a Catholic 
country. 

Here was a remarkable result of the plan upon which 
that religion was traced from the earliest ages. By its hav- 
ing adopted for its invariable and universal dialect, the 
Latin tongue, I, who am wholly ignorant of Armenian, 
found myself at home amidst the orisons of that people to 
the God of all men. The psalms w T hich they repeated, the 
Requiem winch they sung, their final adieus to the dead, as 
the body was lowered into the grave, were those to which 
I had been accustomed from my infancy — those in which I 
last took a deep share when I was separated from a moth- 
er who had loved me above all earthly things. My tears 
mingled with those of the real mourners over the depart- 
ed — the associations of the scene were not to be controlled. 

I was not at all prepared for this open and authorized 
celebration of Christian rites in the public streets and cem- 
eteries of the very capital of the koran. But I had after- 
wards abundant opportunities of satisfying my mind, that, 
in no other part of Europe is the existence of all religions 
more liberally secured, and even protected, than within the 
precincts of Constantinople. It was, I think, only the very 
next day, that I witnessed a similar procession of Greek 
Catholics, whose anthems and prayers differed in lan- 
guage and in other points from those of the Armenians. 
The body was borne on a bier, clothed in the ordinary at- 
tire of life ; the head was crow 7 ned with a wreath of flowers, 
the eyes were still open, and the spirit seemed to have de- 
parted but a few moments before its receptacle was car- 
ried to the cemetery, where it had to w T ait until its place 
was hollowed in the earth. On each of these occasions, 

32* 



THERAPIA. 179 

Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Franks, were seen collected 
round the grave, all listening with respectful and even 
solemn attention to the prayers which were uttered by the 
ministers in attendance. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Therapia— Caiques—Precautions— Old England— Ambassador's residence— Lord 
Ponsonby— Mr. Urquhart— Diplomatic profession — British interests— News des- 
patches— Dragomatiship— Storm— Sources of Plague — Proposed improvements 
— Russian designs — The Dardanelles — Ibrahim Pasha. 

Having letters for Lord Ponsonby, I proceeded (18th 
Oct.) the day after my arrival, to Therapia, where the 
British embassy had been most inconveniently establish- 
ed, since the magnificent palace belonging to it at Pera 
was burnt down during that extensive conflagration which 
occurred a few years ago. What the distance of Therapia 
may be from Constantinople by land, I cannot conjecture; 
by the Bosphorus, the more usual route, I should suppose 
it maybe about nine or ten English miles, which are some- 
times doubled by the tacks rendered necessary to catch 
the baffling winds of that channel. The weather may en-' 
courage you to go to the embassy ; but a change of wind 
may detain you there for a week, as the only steamboat 
yet upon the Bosphorus is reserved for the exclusive ser- 
vice of the sultan. Certainly no man can have any right to 
complain of being imprisoned under Lord Ponsonby'sroof 
for a week, or a month ; for a more enlightened compan- 
ion, a more kind-hearted host, or a more worthy repre- 
sentative of his country in every respect, is nowhere to be 
found. But it is hardly fair to impose upon any ambas- 
sador, the necessity, not only of receiving his countrymen 
in an agreeable manner, but also of keeping a sort of cara- 
vansary for them, in order to provide against the vicissi- 
tudes of every wind that chooses to blow from the Black 
Sea, or the Sea of Marmora. This inconvenience, how- 
ever, is, I understand, about to be remedied, as measures 
are in progress for the erection, at Scutari, of a residence 
suitable to the dignity of the British Legation. 

The caiques that ply on the Bosphorus are somewhat 
larger and considerably deeper than the wherries of the 
Thames. But they are built so round that the passenger*. 
and rowers must balance themselves to a nicety before 
they can depart 5 otherwise they run the chance of being 



180 CAIQUES. 

very speedily upset. For this reason the passengers are 
obliged to convert themselves during their voyage into bal- 
last, by sitting down in the bottom of the vessel, where a 
mat or a carpet is usually spread for that purpose. If the 
wind be favourable, the sail is spread, and then the changes 
of place which become necessary from time to time, in 
order to preserve the due distribution of the said balance 
in accordance with each tack, when the boat cannot run 
right before the breeze, are very troublesome. The annoy- 
ance is still more sensibly felt when there is only one pas- 
senger in the boat, for he is obliged to shift here and there 
according to invisible lines of demarcation, as if he were 
weighing out his body to a customer in scruples. 

As it was against the law of health that 1 should touch 
any woollen substance, or any other luxury capable of 
communicating the plague, I was obliged to sit down on the 
naked plank, and be cautious even of suffering a cord to 
come in contact with my clothes. I thus consigned myself 
to the care of two brawny Turks, whose oars were tied by 
leathern thongs to a peg inserted in the edge of the vessel, 
and we departed from Pera. The day was brilliant. 

Much as I had heard of the beauties of the Asiatic as 
well as of the European banks of the Bosphorus, I must 
say that they very much exceeded any description I had 
ever read, or any panorama 1 had ever seen of them. The 
ever-changing character of the hills, that rise on each 
side ; the magic variations of colour cast upon them by the 
travelling sun, and by their own -shadows; the pendent 
groves and gardens; the castles and fortifications of the 
middle ages ; the old Moorish architecture of the houses 
and palaces, which extend for five or six miles under the 
hills, beside the blue waters; the splendid new residences, 
built on either shore by the present sultan or his ministers, 
with their light oriental fronts, their latticed windows, their 
bronze doors, and snow-white marble steps; the towering 
Turkish ships of war, anchored off the arsenal; the mer- 
chant brigs of all nations, sailing up or down the waves; 
the innumerable boats bent on business or pleasure, urged 
by the oar or wafted by the wind in every direction ; the 
costume of the Frank mingling with that of the Turk, the 
Albanian, the Greek, the Tartar, the wild mountaineer from 
Caucasus, the slave from Circassia, the horse-dealer from 
Arabia, the silk and carpet-merchant from Persia, the 
Dervish from India, and the veiled form of woman wher- 
ever she appeared, — spread out a picture of human life and 
industry, and of natural grandeur before me, such as no 
other part of the world could disclose. 

In about two hours and a half I arrived at Therapia, 



AMBASSADOR^ RE3IDENCE. 181 

where, upon presenting my letters, which were fumigated, 
and having undergone the same sort of purification myself, 
I was desired to feel as if I were at home in Old England. 
Every thing, indeed, looked truly English about me — the so- 
fas, the rose- wood tables, the screens, the comfortable car- 
pets ,the cushioned chairs, the richly curtained windows, the 
mirrors, the books on side-tables, the newspapers and re- 
views and magazines, the bronze ink and pen tray, the blue 
gilt-edged despatch paper from the Stationery Office: it was 
delightful to tread, as it were, upon a portion of the sacred soil 
of my country, under the protection of her laws, and hear- 
ing only her language at such a distance from her shores ! 
, Lord Ponsonby was so good as to keep me to dinner, 
and to direct a chamber to be prepared for me which I 
was to consider as my own during my sojourn in the cap- 
ital. I had to wind my way to it through several flights of 
stone stairs, a courtyard, and then up another set of stairs, 
where I was surrounded by bath-rooms fitted up with mar- 
ble basins for the hands and feet, in the Turkish style. In- 
deed, the mansion, taken as a whole, before it was civilized 
by the taste and perseverance of Lady Ponsonby, must 
have presented a most cheerless aspect. It must have 
looked more like a huge granary, than any thing convert- 
ible into a fit residence for a nobleman. Such was its state 
of repair when occupied by Mr. Mandeville, who, as charge 
d'affaires, immediately preceded Lord Ponsonby, that 
when the inclemency of the weather precluded that gen- 
tleman from taking his usual ride, he put on his boots, 
wrapped his cloak around him, and walked up and down 
his dining room — a tremendously large saloon — for exer- 
cise. On some occasions, it is said, while thus employed, 
he v/as even compelled to place himself under the protec- 
tion of an umbrella ! 

The society of Therapia is necessarily very limited, — in- 
deed usually confined to the circles of the English and 
French legations, which are established near each other. 
Lady Ponsonby has, however, an ample compensation for 
her absence from the gay crowds of home, in an intellect 
refined by great natural delicacy of thought, and enriched by 
the treasures of almost every living language worth atten- 
tion. Lord Ponsonby is an ardent pupil of the Fox school, 
of which, and of the individuals who moved in it in his 
younger days, he has preserved many anecdotes, w T hich he 
tells with great effect. 

Among the guests of the day were Mr. David Urquhart, 
the well-known author of "Turkey and its Resources,"* 

f Since appointed Secretary to the British Embassy at Constantinople, 
35* ?* 



182 GUESTS. 

who had lately returned to Constantinople from a tour 
through the European provinces of the Ottoman empire. 
This gentleman seems to have attached himself strongly 
to the Turkish people, amongst whom he has already ac* 
quired considerable influence. He is the first European, 
I believe, who has been admitted to Mahomedan society in 
the turban, without having changed, or intended, or even 
affected to change his religion, which is that of the Protest- 
ant church. His residence was at Scutari, where he lived 
altogether after the Turkish fashion, dispensing, however, 
with the harem, and was known by the title of the "Eng- 
lish Bey!" He was full of the Russian question — that is 
to say, of the numberless inroads lately made upon the in- 
dependence of the sultan by the open aggressions and the 
more dangerous secret manoeuvres of the imperial govern- 
ment, and was so obliging as to give me much useful in- 
formation on that subject. 

Another of the ambassador's guests was Dr. M'Neil,* an 
intelligent and enterprising Scotchman, who went out some 
years ago as physician to the British Fmbassy in Persia. 
He was on his way home with despatches. His account 
of that interesting country was by no means encouraging, 
so far as British interests were concerned. The whole em- 
pire was in a state of disorganization, of which, as usual, 
a swarm of Russian agents were eagerly availing them- 
selves in order to prepare the way for their own dominion. 

It is an unfortunate defect in our constitution, that its 
machinery is expressly calculated to prevent us from hav- 
ing a body of gentlemen regularly brought up to diploma- 
cy as a profession, altogether independent of politics. The 
etiquette of foreign courts will, for the most part, generally 
require the higher appointments in that department of the 
state to be filled by noblemen ; and as these individuals 
owe their promotion chiefly to political connexion, I fear they 
must always remain liable to be changed with the fluctua- 
tions which so frequently take place in our government 
But it is quite practicable, if the system were once establish- 
ed, that all the minor legations, the secretaryships, and 
other offices connected with the foreign interests of the 
country, should be committed exclusively to the hands of 
individuals properly educated for the purpose. The duties 
of consuls and vice-consuls are essentially diplomatic, and 
ought to be intrusted only to gentlemen capable of serving 
the country in that capacity. 

If some system of this kind bo not speedily established, 
we may as well give up at once the latent contest which 

♦ Since appointed Secretary to the Persian Embassy, 



BRITISH INTERESTS. 183 

we are at this moment carrying on with Russia in Persia, 
Turkey, and Greece, and with all the Northern Powers in 
Germany and Italy. All the consuls of these powers are 
diplomatic agents, besides whom they have "agents of cor- 
respondence," distributed through every country where 
their interests are in the slightest degree liable to be affect- 
ed by political circumstances. It is a national silliness on 
our part to say that these men are " spies," and because 
espionage is in itself a mean and objectionable occupation, 
therefore we ought not to follow the example of our rivals. 
It is eminently ^absurd to designate an individual as a 
"spy," in the offensive sense of that term, whose office it 
is to watch the progress of events, to mark the character 
of the men engaged in them, to speculate rationally upon 
their consequences, and to furnish his government with all 
the information concerning them which he has been ena- 
bled to collect on the spot by his sagacity and industry. 
Such an agent may frequently render to his country most 
material services; and inconsequence of the want of pub- 
lic officers of this description, I am convinced that the in- 
fluence of England is all but destroyed in Germany, Italy, 
and the whole of the western districts of Asia. 

Another vice of our diplomatic system, if indeed we can 
be said to have any such a system at all, is this, that when a 
despatch is prepared by any of our ministers abroad, he 
is strictly enjoined by the regulations of the Foreign Office 
to restrict his statements to one general subject. Thus, for 
instance, suppose the negotiations on the Boundary ques- 
tion to be going on at Washington, and that the British 
envoy has occasion to narrate to his government the pro- 
gress he has made, he must touch in his despatch upon that 
subject, no other topic whatever. The consequence of 
this regulation is, that, although on some rare occasions 
separate despatches are written on other subjects. — gen- 
erally speaking, no more than a single communication up- 
on the principal topic is sent home, unaccompanied by a 
solitary remark on the living history of the men and of the 
transactions, of whom the writer is only one, and of which 
his composition forms no more than an episode. From 
this practice it results that our representatives at foreign 
stations are seldom good observers of character ; that their 
despatches are remarkably dry, and altogether destitute of 
general information. I have been told, that in the legations 
and consular offices of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, and 
even of some of the minor states, individuals are specially 
instructed to w 7 rite home what are called " new r s des- 
patches," as often as possible. I know of no reason why 
a similar course should not be adopted by our legations, 



184 DRAGOMAN SHIP. 

many of which are well paid for doing little, and that little 
very indifferently. 

But perhaps the defect of our diplomacy, which in. Tur- 
key most strongly demands immediate alteration, is that 
arising from the old fashion of dragomanship, — not indeed 
peculiar to the English embassy, since it prevails also 
amongst the other European missions at Constantinople. 
An intelligent tribe of men, half Greek, half Italian, has 
been settled for centuries at Pera, whose business it has 
been to cultivate the Turkish, French, and Italian lan- 
guages; hence they are enabled to furnish each of the em- 
bassies with an interpreter, who is retained in its service at 
a high salary. He attends the minister at all his interviews 
with the sultan, the members of government, and of the 
divan, in order to interpret between both parties ; he trans- 
lates the notes and other communications transmitted by 
one party to the other, and thus becomes intimately ac- 
quainted with state secrets on both sides. Does he never 
reveal them ? If this question can be truly answered in 
the negative, then the whole race is much calumniated at 
Constantinople. Indeed, it is said that Russian gold, which 
is never absent from the scene of negotiations when an 
important disclosure can be purchased, has irresistible 
charms for the dragomen. 

It may be asked, why a professional secretary is not 
attached to our Turkish embassy, selected from amongst 
our own countrymen, and qualified for his office by a fa- 
miliar acquaintance with the Turkish language? It is not 
more difficult than the dialects of Persia and India, where 
we have seldom occasion for the assistance of interpreters 
in our diplomatic missions, because care is taken to attach 
to them one gentleman at least of British origin, who is 
master of the language of the country where the mission is 
established. The same rule should apply to Constantino- 
ple, where the members of government, with few excep- 
tions, are ignorant of every language but their own. 

I was detained at Therapia the whole of the ensuing day 
(19th October) by heavy rains, and a violent tempest 
which prevailed, without a moment's intermission, until 
evening, when we all met again round Lord Ponsonby's 
table. During the night there were tremendous storms of 
thunder and lightning, accompanied by a strong wind, 
blowing down from the Black Sea through the hills on each 
side of theBosphorus as through a funnel, in the very neck 
of which his lordship's residence was placed. The waters 
were still (20th October) much disturbed when I returned 
to Pera; but the wind being right down the channel, I was 
only an hour on the voyage,"and spent that day. as well 



SOURCES OF PLAGUE. 185 

as several of the following days, in exploring the curiosi- 
ties of Constantinople, with an account of which, as they 
have been already fully and graphically described in a 
hundred other works, I shall not burden these pages. 

One or two general reflections, however, upon the actual 
state of that metropolis, may not be deemed superfluous. 
It is built on a series of hills, which afford every requisite 
facility for purifying the streets, and for conducting to the 
Sea of Marmora, through properly constructed sewers, all 
the impurities which necessarily attend a large population. 
Unfortunately, whatever sewers exist are choked up, or 
lead only into the Golden Horn, the inner harbour, where 
numerous merchant ships are anchored at all seasons of 
the year. The consequence is, that the harbour, which is 
but little affected by the current of the Bosphorus, is little 
better than a stagnant pool, in which not only the drainage 
from the most crowded part of the city is collected, but 
also that of the ships waiting for winds, or to deliver or 
receive their cargoes. I entertain no doubt at all that the 
Golden Horn, so called as the emblem of commercial 
abundance, is the real source of the pestilence which so 
often, 1 may say so permanently, wastes that metropolis, 
and renders it a most disagreeable place of residence. 

There is not, indeed there cannot be, any thing like so- 
ciety in a capital, where every circle is obliged to observe 
a quarantine against its neighbour. " Have you touched 
anybody to_-day?" is the first question put to a visiter, who 
is supposed not to be experienced in the arts of avoiding 
contact. The whole year passes without any evening 
amusements. Theatres, musical or dancing assemblies, 
are of course out of the question in such a state of things. 
Indeed, nobody attempts to go out at night, as the bazaars 
are all closed at sunset, and the streets are destitute of 
lamps. 

It is impossible, therefore, that Constantinople can ever 
be rendered a healthy, a social, or civilized residence, in 
the European sense of the terms, until the inner harbour 
shall be entirely filled up, and the sea excluded to that line 
of demarcation where the current of the Bosphorus acts 
upon the mass of the waters. New sewers must be con- 
structed leading chiefly into the Sea of Marmora. The 
bazaars, which are in fact but the principal streets roofed 
in, should be unroofed, and left perfectly open to the air. 
The gates which exist in different parts of the city, with 
the view of cutting off communication during a period of 
insurrection, should be removed. The old battlements an-t 
wails, which have no value as defences against artillery, 
should be levelled with the earth. The same fate should 

16* 



186 THE DARDANELLES. 

visit the cumbrous and lofty walls by which the official 
habitations of the governor of Constantinople, and other 
public servants, are surrounded. For the wooden houses, 
of which the capital is chiefly composed, streets in the 
Moorish style of architecture, of stone or brick materials, 
should be substituted. If these and other alterations, which 
good taste, attention to air, and provisions for an efficient 
police would suggest, w T ere carried into execution, Con- 
stantinople would be without a rival for the beauty and 
commercial advantages of its situation. 

I believe that nobody has thought more frequently or 
more deeply upon this subject, than the late and the present 
sovereigns of Russia. Indeed, when w T e consider the vast 
strides which their dominion has made from time to time 
towards the Dardanelles, we cannot avoid coming to a 
conclusion, that the design has been, and still is seriously 
entertained, of eventually rendering Constantinople the 
seat of government for the Russian empire. This is not 
only, in my judgment, a very natural object of ambition 
on the part of the czar, but one apparently forced upon 
him by the defective position which the southern provinces 
of his vast possessions enjoy. 

By having extended their authority from the old king- 
dom of Muscovy to the Lesser Tartary and the Crimea, 
thence on the eastern shore of the Euxine to Anapa, and 
to the delta of the Danube, on the west, the Russians have 
become masters of the Black Sea, which has no outlet, 
except through the Bosphorus and the Hellespont. The 
current which flows through those canals, and through the 
intervening Sea of Marmora, points out the natural course 
which that authority must further take, before it can be 
established on a solid basis. 

The phrase which escaped Alexander, when he called 
the Dardanelles u the key of my house," is pregnant with 
a truth which becomes every day more apparent. It is 
unquestionably necessary to the further aggrandizement 
of the dominions of the czar, assuming that to be his ob- 
ject, to have the right of free egress and ingress through 
the gates of the Dardanelles, which are the gates also of 
the Black Sea ; and it is incompatible with the notion which 
every man must entertain, of the relations actually subsist- 
ing between his imperial majesty and the sultan, to sup- 
pose, that the former would ever again suffer the shutting 
or the opening of the Dardanelles to be dependent on the 
fiat of the Divan. 

All the recent history of Russia has been one uniform 
series of transactions, tending cunningly, and indeed with- 
out disguise, towards the transference of the imperial 



IBRAHIM PASHA. 



187 



throne from Petersburg to Constantinople. The treaty of 
Bucharest, which was signed in 1812, placed Wallachia 
and Moldavia under the quasi protection of the emperor. 
By virtue of the treaty of Adrianople, (1829,) and of Pe- 
tersburg, (1834,) as we shall presently see, those provinces 
have become substantially Russian ; and Servia has ac- 
quired a nominal government of her own, which is calcu- 
lated only to prepare the way to a similar result in that 
quarter. This was a remarkable stride across the Dan- 
ube, and in order that no re-action should render it inef- 
fectual, possession was subsequently secured to the Rus- 
sian troops of Silistria, which opens the way to Constanti- 
nople, for a period of eight years, liable to be prolonged 
ad infinitum ! 

This period of eight years forms a remarkable epoch in 
these transactions ; it discloses the predominant thought 
of the Russian cabinet in originating the treaty of Adrian- 
ople, as well as the two still more important treaties of 
1833 and 1834, by which the advantages acquired on the 
side of the emperor under the former compact, were not 
only confirmed but seriously augmented. Eight years from 
April 1830, (when the convention for the payment of the 
indemnity was signed at Petersburg,) would seem to be 
the space of time within which the czar at first calculat- 
ed upon replenishing his treasury, and collecting suffi- 
cient means to enable him to surprise or defy the power of 
Great Britain, by seizing the Dardanelles. We shall ac- 
cordingly observe that when a portion of the indemnity 
(ten millions of Dutch ducats) which the sultan agreed by 
the treaty of 1829 to pay to Russia, was subsequently re- 
mitted, no diminution took place in the term of years over 
which the payments had been originally extended ; on the 
contrary, that term was enlarged I 

Everybody recollects how England and France were 
engaged in 1832 and 1833 in settling the affairs of Belgium; 
that French troops were obliged to dislodge by force the 
Dutch garrison from Antwerp, while British ships of war 
were occupied in blockading the ports of Holland. In the 
mean time, Ibrahim Pasha, the able and enterprising son 
of Mahomet Ali, actual ruler of Egypt, had overrun all 
Syria, had encamped on the mountainous regions of the 
Taurus, and threatened a descent upon Constantinople 
itself. Under these circumstances, the sultan applied for 
assistance to England and France ; but whether it was 
that sufficient importance had not been then attached to 
the conquests of Ibrahim, or to the apprehension that his 
ultimate views were directed upon Constantinople ; or that 
the engagements of both the powers with reference to the 



188 TREATY OF UNKIAR SKELES3I. 

pacification of Belgium, prevented them from paying due 
attention to the solicitations of the Porte, it is at all events 
certain, that the interposition required on that occasion in 
behalf of the Turkish empire was refused by the two gov- 
ernments. I cannot but consider that refusal as a most 
unfortunate event, from whatever causes it may have aris- 
en : it left the field of the East open to the autocrat, who 
lost not a moment in making it his own. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi— Its substance— Third article— Remaining patent arti- 
cles—Audiences of the Sultan— Count Orloff— Secret article— Its effect— Law of 
the Dardanelles— Outrage on international law— Treaty of Petersburg— Boun- 
daries— The provinces— Firman— Russian ascendancy. 

Left to struggle single-handed against an enemy for 
whom every fresh battle became a triumph, the sultan was 
reduced to the necessity of applying to Russia for that suc- 
cour which was denied him elsewhere. If ever the secret 
history of Ibrahim's expedition be revealed, it will proba- 
bry exhibit the extent to which Russian agency was con- 
cerned in that enterprise. Its coincidences with the entan- 
glements of France and England, both foreign and domes- 
tic, if not designed, were curiously fortunate for the views 
of Russia upon Turkey. No sooner was the request made, 
than a Russian fleet often ships of the line and several fri- 
gates was despatched to the Bosphorus, and a Russian ar- 
my of fifty thousand men shortly after occupied the heights 
of Unkiar Skelessi, or "The King's Stairs," on the Asi- 
atic side of that canal — the same heights which were once 
covered by the tents of the Crusaders who had assembled 
under the command of Godfrey of Boulogne. 

The real objects of the generous and disinterested friend 
of the Porte in this business, became obvious in the course 
of a little time; before his fleet or his troops departed on 
their return home, a treaty was concluded between the two 
powers, which has since given rise to discussions of a grave 
character, inasmuch as they are as yet by no means ter- 
minated, nor modified in the aspect which they assumed 
from the commencement — an aspect portentous of a gene- 
ral war in Europe. 

I found it extremely difficult to obtain an authentic copy 
of that treaty. Being a contract between the two powers, 
consisting of six patent articles, and a separate article in- 
10 



TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY. 180 

tended to be kept secret, the treaty was not officially com- 
municated to other governments, and never has been offi- 
cially published. The fact is, that the Turkish original, in 
their own language, is construed by the Divan, on some 
points, in a way not strictly reconcilable with the Russian 
original, in French, and therefore doubts may be contend- 
ed for on both sides, as to the acceptation in which the 
whole treaty should be received. I have, however, suc- 
ceeded in procuring a copy of that document, which may 
be relied upon as containing no material error.* It will be 
found in French and English in the Appendix: I shall here 
briefly state its substance. 

It is entitled a " Treatise of Defensive Alliance" between 
Russia and Turkey, entered into by the parties with a view 
to give effect to the sincere desire by which they were ani- 
mated to maintain the system of peace and good harmony 
happily established between the two empires, and to extend 
and to strengthen the perfect friendship and confidence 
which reigned between them. It was therefore mutually 
agreed, that there should be forever peace, friendship, and 
alliance between the two sovereigns, their empires and 
subjects, by land and sea: that the only object of that alli- 
ance should be the common defence of their states against 
every kind of attack, (i. e., by a foreign enemy, or domes- 
tic insurgents,) their majesties pledging themselves "to 
enter into an unreserved understanding with each other, 
with reference to all objects that concern their tranquillity 
and security respectively, and to lend for that purpose, mu- 
tually, materiel succours, and the most effective assistance." 
The second article confirms the treaties and conventions 
previously concluded between the tw 7 o powers. 

The third article runs thus :— In consequence of the prin- 
ciple of conservation and mutual defence which serves as 
the basis of the present treaty of alliance, and in pursuance 
of the most sincere desire of assuring the duration, the 
maintenance, and entire independence of the Sublime Porte, 
the emperor, in case circumstances wiiich might again in- 
duce the Porte to claim naval and military assistance from 
Russia should occur, although the case were not to be fore- 
seen, promises, if it should please God. to furnish, by land 
and sea, such number of troops and forces as the two con- 
tracting parties shall judge necessary. Accordingly, it is 
agreed that, in this case, the forces by land and sea which 
the Porte shall require, shall be held at its disposal. 

The fourth article stipulates, that in case one of the pow- 
ers should require assistance, as before specified, from the 

* Appendix A. 



190 COUNT ORLOFF. 

other, those expenses only which may be incurred for pro- 
visioning the forces by land and sea, shall be defrayed by 
the party demanding the succours. The fifth article limits 
the period during which this treaty is to be in force to eight 
years from the date of the exchange of ratifications. The 
parties, indeed, assure each other that they desire to main- 
tain its engagements to the latest moment of time ; but leave 
themselves at liberty hereafter to modify its provisions, 
and extend its duration, as circumstances may suggest. 
The sixth and concluding patent article regulates the pe- 
riod (two months) for the exchange of ratifications, and 
terminates with the usual form for authenticating the in- 
strument, without making any allusion whatever to the 
" separate article." 

Lord Ponsonby landed at Therapia on the 4th of May, 
(1833,) from the Actceon, in which he had sailed from Na- 
ples, a few days before Count Orloff reached the Bosphorus 
in a Russian steamboat from Odessa. His lordship had his 
first audience of the sultan at the splendid new kiosk or 
palace of Dalma Batche, on the European bank of the Bos- 
phorus; he remained an hour. The Count Orloff imme- 
diately followed, and remained two hours. On leaving the 
sultan, the count told everybody that he was like a person 
who came to a banquet when all was over. He had noth- 
ing to do ! The fleet was already ordered home ! The en- 
campment was about to be broken up ! He was an idle 
man, and his only business was to amuse himself as well 
as he could for a few days ! 

The gentlemen of the Actceon were requested to consider 
themselves quite at home in the Russian camp; they play- 
ed at cricket in the sultan's valley! The commander-in- 
chief actually w r ent on board himself, to invite the captain 
to visit him at his mansion; he went in full uniform, land- 
ing from his boat where his pennant was displayed, sent in 
his name, was detained in the hall amongst orderlies and 
common soldiers nearly half an hour, and came away in 
disgust ! An explanation arrived the day after, to say that 
it was all a mistake — that the servants were ignorant of the 
rank of the English visiter ! 

On the 24th of May, the sultan was to go to the mosque; 
it was noticed that he delayed considerably beyond the 
usual time; and it afterwards transpired that he had been 
engaged in a most violent discussion with the Count Orloff; 
many angry speeches having passed on the occasion be- 
tween the diplomatist and the sovereign. When his high- 
ness mounted his horse, decorated though he was with dia- 
monds, emeralds and rubies, he looked tiie personification 
of ill-humour. 



SECRET ARTICLE. 191 

A few days after this scene, a ship arrived in the Bos- 
phorus from Malta, with intelligence that a formidable com- 
bined British and French fleet had sailed for the Darda- 
nelles. This was not exactly the fact; for their object was 
to prohibit the advance, beyond the Taurus, of the troops 
under the command of Ibrahim; and as the mandate was 
at once obeyed, and there was no longer any pretence for 
the stay of the Russian fleet in the Bosphorus, preparations 
were made (most reluctantly) for its departure. Never- 
theless, under one pretext or another, the troops were de- 
tained, week after week, at Unkiar Skelessi, amid a series 
of balls, reviews, fireworks, and amusements of every de- 
scription, under cover of which the negotiations for the 
above treaty were most adroitly conducted. It was signed 
on the 26th of June, (Sth of July, n. s.,) and the "separate 
secret article" was executed on the same day. 

That article is as follows: — u By virtue of the first article 
of the patent treaty of defensive alliance concluded between 
the Sublime Porte and the Imperial Court of Russia, the 
two high contracting parties have engaged to afford to each 
other, mutually, materiel succours, and the most effective 
assistance for the security of their respective states. Nev- 
ertheless, as his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, 
wishing to spare the Sublime Porte the charges and the 
embarrassments which would result on its part from the 
grant of such materiel succours, will not demand such suc- 
cours if circumstances should place the Sublime Porte un- 
der the necessity of furnishing them, the Sublime Ottoman 
Porte, in lieu of such succours which it is bound to afford, 
if necessary, in conformity with the principle of reciprocity 
of the patent treaty, ought to limit its action in favour of the 
Imperial Court of Russia to the closing of the strait of the 
Dardanelles, that is to say, not to permit any foreign ship 
of war to enter it under any pretext whatever. The present 
separate and secret article shall have the same force and 
validity as if it were inserted, word for word, in the treaty 
of defensive alliance of this day." 

The whole object of the patent treaty is, therefore, to 
create a plausible pretext for the secret article. One party 
agrees at first, and in open market, to lend the other a 
pound of powder; but for the pound of powder both par- 
ties subsequently agree, in secret, to substitute the key of 
the Dardanelles! The change which such an agreement 
operates in the relations previously existing between the 
two powers, is manifest. The object attained by the pri- 
vate contract bears no proportion whatever to the part of 
the public transaction for which that object is extorted as 
an equivalent. Russia really wanted no "materiel sue* 



192 OUTRAGE ON INTERNATIONAL LAW. 

cours" from Turkey; but she pretends to require them on 
the principle of reciprocity, and founds upon that principle 
the establishment of the great object of her ambition, the 
control of the Dardanelles! Thus the parties who act be- 
fore the world as equals, on retiring behind the scenes, are 
suddenly transformed into two very different characters — 
the master and the slave. 

It cannot be doubted, I apprehend, that the British gov- 
ernment has good right to complain of this transaction. I 
admit, of course, that two independent powers possess au- 
thority to make such stipulations with each other as they 
may think conducive to their mutual benefit. Even then, 
however, if w r e see an unfair advantage taken of an enfee- 
bled state in the hour of distress, by a more energetic and 
ambitious neighbour, other nations, though not immediate- 
ly affected by the consequences of the act, are not justly 
liable to animadversion if they contemplate such a proceed- 
ing with extreme jealousy. But the case becomes much 
stronger as a groundwork for jealousy, if not for measures 
of a defined and active character, when we examine its 
bearings upon the interests of Europe in general. 

The law of the Dardanelles, so to speak, stood, before 
the 8th of July, 1833, as follows. The Porte had for centu- 
ries exercised the right of excluding, in time of peace, from 
that strait and the Bosphorus, the ships of war of all foreign 
nations, without exception. England, France, and the other 
powers of the continent, acquiesced in that law, and even 
may be considered as parties consenting to it. If the Porte 
proposed to modify that law, her intentions ought, accord- 
ing to the courtesy of nations at peace with each other, to 
have been communicated to the other governments before 
being carried into execution. The ministers of the Porte 
and Russia, however, meet in a secret chamber at Con- 
stantinople, and enact, of their own authority, a most im- 
portant alteration in a law w T hich, by the general consent 
given to it, had long ceased to be a mere municipal law of 
Turkey, and had become interwoven with the general law 
of nations. I contend, therefore, that this proceeding, be- 
sides being clandestine, is the usurpation of an authority 
which one of these states, but not both combined, possess- 
ed. The Porte ow T ned both sides of the two straits, and 
might close or open them lawfully. But the two powers 
had no joint delegation to legislate for Europe. 

What is the effect of the alteration ? Before the treaty, 
all foreign ships of war were excluded, in time of peace, 
from the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. The secret ar- 
ticle decrees an exception in favour of Russia. Under the 
patent treaty, the emperor, if he deem it necessary to the 



TREATY OP PETERSBURG. 193 

safety of his states, may call upon his defensive ally to as- 
sist him with materiel succours. Under the secret article 
he says, "I do not want your powder; but in lieu of it you 
must shut the Dardanelles against my enemies." This 
proceeding, if carried into effect, would, in case of a war, 
for instance, between England and Russia, give to the lat- 
ter an advantage, to which, under the law of nations as it 
stood before, she would not be entitled. Her ships of war 
would not in that case be " foreign" within the meaning of 
the treaty ; they would not be the ships of a " stranger," 
etranger, but of an ally — a defensive ally — and therefore 
they would have a right to egress and ingress through the 
two straits at a time when they would be shut against the 
flag of England. 

Another striking consequence of the whole transaction 
is this ; that whenever the emperor chooses to go to war, 
he may, if he wish it, call upon his defensive ally to become 
a belligerent also, whether it be for the interest of the Porte 
or not The treaty is indeed limited in its duration to eight 
years — (again that mystic period!) But it is "renewable 
forever." Every hour it exists, inflicts, in my judgment, 
an outrage on the law, and what is higher than the law, 
the honour of all other nations. 

It is a peculiarly offensive, though a necessary ingredi- 
ent in this transaction, that although the two powers have 
affected to- legislate for Europe, they have never yet offi- 
cially promulgated the terms of the ordinance by which 
they have decided that we shall in future be governed. 
This is usurpation in its most tyrannical form, & You 
shall obey my law," says the autocrat, "but you shall not 
know it," Thus, to an unjustifiable claim to paramount 
authority over all Europe, the Muscovite has sought to add 
the dark and undefined and lawless empire of the Inquisk 
tion. 

The treaty of Unkiar Skelessi was not long afterwards 
followed by another, which was signed by the plenipoten- 
tiaries of the two powers at St. Petersburg, on the 29th of 
January,* (10th February,) 1834 — that is to say, by Ahmed 
Pasha on the one part, and the Counts Nesselrode and Or- 
loff on the other. This is a very remarkable treaty. The 
first article relates to the "line of demarcation," which was 
in future to separate the two empires in the east, with a 
view to prevent every species of dispute and discussion, 
as well as the depredations of those tribes whose acts had 
more than once compromised the relations of neighbour- 
hood and friendship between the two empires I Not a worcj 

* Appendix B. 
-3Q* 17 



194 BOUNDARIES. 

is said here of those compensations en nature^ which were 
to form part of the indemnity to be paid by the Porte; and 
yet if the reader will look at the map of Asia while he reads 
the first article carefully, he will perceive that, without 
mentioning them by name, the articLe transfers to Russia 
a considerable portion of the eastern coast of the Black 
Sea, including the richest, the most populous, and the most 
fertile territories of Turkey in that direction. The line de- 
parts from port St. Nicolo on the coast of the Euxine, fol- 
lows the actual frontiers of the province of Guriel, ascends 
the confines of Juira, and thence traverses the province of 
Akhiskha, until it strikes the point where the provinces of 
Akhiskha and of Cars are reunited with the province of 
Georgia. 

An engagement is then entered into on the part of the 
emperor, that as soon as the boundary lines shall have 
been marked by commissioners to be appointed for that 
purpose, the Russian troops shall evacuate the territories 
beyond the line ; and it is agreed that the Mussulmen who 
were living within the " inconsiderable territory," which is 
comprised within the line that passes by the Sandjack of 
Ghroubhan and the borders of the Sandjacks of Ponskron 
and of Djildir, if they wish to reside under the dominion 
of the Porte, may take eighteen months c; to finish the af- 
fairs which attach them to the country, and transfer them- 
selves to the Turkish states, without molestation !" 

The subject of the provinces of Wallachia and Molda- 
via is next finally disposed of. By the convention of Ack- 
erman it had been stipulated between the two powers that 
the Hospodars should be appointed by the Porte, and that 
they should hold office for seven years, when the sultan 
might reappoint them, or substitute other persons for 
them, during similar periods. By the separate Act (1) at- 
tached to the Treaty of Adrianople, the government of the 
provinces is placed upon a footing which is almost equiv- 
alent to a state of independence, so far as the Porte is 
concerned ; and the second article of the treaty of Peters- 
burg, now under consideration, affects simply to confirm 
that arrangement, wiiereas it really surrenders the sub- 
stantia] sovereignty of the provinces to Russia. 

"By the instrument," says the article, " executed sepa- 
rately at Adrianople relative to the principalities of Wal- 
lachia and Moldavia, the Sublime Porte has engaged to 
recognise formally the regulations made, while the^Russian 
troops occupied those provinces, by the principal inhabi- 
tants, with reference to the internal administration of the 
country 5 the Sublime Porte, finding nothing in the articles 
of that constitution which can affect its rights of Suzerain- 



RUSSIAN ASCENDANCY. J 95 

ete, consents henceforth formally to recognise the said con- 
stitution. It undertakes to publish in this respect a firman, 
accompanied by a hatti sheriff, within two months after the 
exchange of ratifications, and to give a copy of the same 
to the Russian mission at Constantinople." 

Hence it appears that although the principalities were 
then in a condition apparently to treat for themselves — al- 
though they possessed a constitution framed according to 
the wishes of the " notable inhabitants" of those districts, 
and although that constitution was now solemnly recog- 
nised, no authority could be admitted, emanating directly 
from the principalities, to be a contracting party to this 
treaty. The reader will have further observed, that no 
provision is made for communicating a copy of the fir- 
man and the hatti sheriff especially to the authorities of 
the principalities themselves. Both instruments are to be 
published to all the world — but the official copy of them is 
stipulated to be given only to the Russian mission at Con- 
stantinople ! Therefore the emperor is the real sovereign 
of the principalities, and the hospodars are his puppets. 

The third article of this treaty relates to the indemnity, 
and proposes to facilitate its payment. It had been stipula- 
ted by a former treaty, that the Porte should pay annually, 
during the term of eight years, one million of Dutch ducats: 
that sum is now reduced to half a million, but the annual 
payments are still to extend over the period of eight years. 
Two millions of the original ten would still remain, how- 
ever, to be paid. The emperor gives them up, in consid- 
eration of the sultan's poverty ! An arrangement is then 
made, whereby the whole of the four millions of ducats 
which thus constitute the amount of the indemnity, shall 
be paid in annual instalments, during eight years : and the 
first year is to be from May, 1834, to May, 1835, the sec- 
ond, from May, 1835, to May, 1836, and so on ; by which 
it may be seen that the possession of Silistria, which the 
emperor holds until the indemnity shall be fully liquidated, 
has been extended from the year 1838, the original period, 
to the year of our Lord 1842. The registration among its 
archives of the firman and hatti sheriff, relating to the prin- 
cipalities, is not a more valid token of Russian ascendancy 
in these provinces, than Silistria is of her paramount au- 
thority throughout Turkey. 



196 



DICTATION, 



CHAPTER XX. 

Dictation— Signal of war— Civilization— Barbarism— Russian court— Turkish civil- 
ization— Commercial views— Mediterranean trade— Steamboats— Dardanelles- 
Nullification— Government measures— Nesselrode's answer— Russian magna- 
nimity—Treaty of 1809— Strait of the Euxine— Russian advantages — Key ol 
Turkey. 

It was comparatively an unimportant prerogative of the 
sultan to hold in his own hands the key of the Dardanelles. 
We acquiesced in his exercise of that principle, because 
he was an old ally of ours, and not possessed of any for- 
midable power. But the same prerogative usurped by the 
emperor, becomes a privilege of a very different charac- 
ter. We have not been consulted about the transfer. 
From weak hands it has been wrested by those of a giant, 
with whom we shall, sooner or later, have to contend for 
the liberties and the peace of Europe. If we had been so- 
licited to consent to such an arrangement, we should cer- 
tainly have opposed it; if insisted upon, we should have 
negotiated further only by ordering our fleet to the Bos- 
phorus. Are we to be constrained into acquiescence by the 
force of a treaty concluded behind our back— a treaty sign- 
ed by the sultan under duresse — a surreptitious, and in 
every respect an illegal instrument? 

Are we to acknowledge the czar as the sovereign lord 
of Turkey, dictating the law of the Dardanelles— the law 
of nations— to the whole commercial world? Are we to 
endure the continuance of those relations between Russia 
and the Porte, by the instrumentality of which, under the 
mask of a treaty concluded between two powers, one inde- 
pendent of the other, and upon a footing of equality with it 
only by diplomatic fiction, a rule of warfare is enacted in 
a clandestine form, to be carried into execution whenever 
it suits the convenience of the party with whom it ori- 
ginated? These are questions in which not England onty, 
but all maritime Europe, the two Americas, and the Indies 
are vitally interested. 

The view I have taken of the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, 
must be founded altogether upon mistaken notions as to 
the authority from which international laws should ema- 
nate, and as to the sanctions by which they are upheld, if 
that compact be not such an invasion of the rights of all 
other countries as to compel them, in their own defence, 
to nullify it by the most direct exercise of all the powers of 
resistance within their control. That treaty must be re- 
scinded, or we shall be but a province of Russia. It is itself 



: 



CIVILIZATION. 197 

a manifest preparation for war. It is the first trumpet- 
sound of the camp-gathering in the North, to emulate the 
hordes which, in former ages, pressed upon the barriers of 
the Roman empire until they swept them away, bearing 
down beneath their hoofs, as they rushed tumultuously 
onward, every monument of art, every creation of genius, 
every fair, and beauteous, and noble work of a polished 
and generous people, that was conducive to convenience, 
or illumined by accumulated centuries of glory. 
f Considered as a question of human civilization, I ask 
any man, conversant with the actual state of the Northern 
empire itself whether, setting apart the fraud perpetrated 
on the "King's Stairs," and the injustice against all other 
nations with which that act is pregnant, there is the most 
remote probability in the hypothesis that Turkey would be 
really and permanently improved by becoming the hand- 
maid of Russia ? We are told, from day to day, by foreign 
writers paid out of the imperial treasury, that the Ottoman 
sovereignty is falling to ruins ; that the Mussulmen are a 
voluptuous, indolent, superstitious, slavish, and barbarous 
race; that they have no schools, no literature, no science, 
no architecture, no sculpture, no painting ; and that the 
time has arrived for expelling them forever from Europe 
where after all they have been only encamped for a few 
centuries. 

I could feel the force of this sort of argument if put forth 
in favour of England or France, or even of Southern Ger- 
many ; but in the mouth of a Russian it is unintelligible. 
If Turkey be in a state of dilapidation, is it to be restored 
by the destroyer of Poland 7 ? If the Turk be vo'uptuous, 
will the Oustliougan render him abstemious ? If the Turk 
be indolent, will the Cossack convert him to habits of in- 
dustry ? If the Turk have no schools, is he likely to ob- 
tain them from the conqueror who shut up the university 
of Warsaw? If the Turk have no literature, will he 
acquire it from the unrestricted, enlightened presses of 
Moscow ? 

If the magnanimous autocrat feel desirous of assisting 
to civilize mankind, let his majesty show what he can do 
by beginning at home. Let him look to the very elite of 
his own court, the very nobles by whose presence his pal- 
aces are graced, and say whether they are such as even 
he would wish them to be ? That some few men of great 
aptitude for diplomacy, of elegant manners, and general 
intelligence, belong to that court, no one who knows any 
thing of the Lievens, the Nesselrodes, the Di Borgos, the 
Pahlens, the OrlorTs, will venture to deny. But these are ei- 
ther foreigners, or the " rari nantes in gurgite vesto." What 

17* 



198 COMMERCIAL VIEWS. 

are they amongst fifty million of boors, over whom the 
imperial sceptre waves — men degraded even beneath the 
lines of ordinary barbarism, and likely to be kept there for 
ages still to come, by the essentially unchangeable princi- 
ples of the government which holds them in subjection? 

Most of the agents of the Russian cabinet are adventur- 
ers from the civilized nations, who seek to earn fortune, 
and perhaps fame, in the service of a treasury, which, 
though very much straitened in its resources, can always 
command enough of gold to establish a system of corrup- 
tion in every part of the world, where anti-liberal views 
are to be carried into effect. I am willing to acknowledge 
the fact that some native subjects of the emperor have 
displayed great intellectual powers. One of these gentle- 
men, however, whom I met at Rome, who had devoted 
himself to painting, and was considered as eminently suc- 
cessful in his art, told me that he had no country but Italy. 
He had not the most remote intention, he said, to return to 
a home where celebrity has no lustre, genius no protec- 
tion ! 

Turkey, it must be admitted on all hands, is not in a 
state of civilization at this moment — unfortunately very far 
from it. But there is no danger in asserting that it is much 
the superior of Russia in that and every other respect ; 
and if any such connexion as the relation of sovereign 
and subject were to be established between the autocrat 
and the Ottoman people, it w T ould blight every hope of im- 
provement, annihilate every chance of future prosperity, 
which they now enjoy. To adopt avowed systematic and 
most rigorous measures for the entire extermination of the 
Turks, would be a policy infinitely more humane than any 
that w T ould bare them to the scourge of the most brutal sol- 
diery on the face of the earth. 

What would be the state of our commerce in the Levant, 
and indeed throughout the Mediterranean, if Russia domi- 
neered over Turkey and held the Dardanelles ? Our trade 
with the Russian ports of the Black Sea and the Baltic is 
at this moment, I admit, considerable. But it is not in 
the power of the autocrat to terminate or even suspend 
it by an ukase. His subjects want our manufactures and 
our colonial produce, and if they cannot carry on their 
accustomed interchange with us under the protection of 
law, they will carry it on in despite of the law. Our com- 
merce with Constantinople is, if I be rightly informed, 
doubling every year; while at Smyrna it is "steadily in- 
creasing, though not in the same ratio. Thessalonica he? 
lately demanded an English consul. The inhabitants of 
the new kingdom of Greece have returned to those a^ri- 



MEDITERRANEAN TRADE. 199 

cultural pursuits, to which they are naturally much devoted, 
and the Piraeus, whose very name ceased to be remem- 
bered, except by the classic student, in Europe, exhibits 
the bustle of a crowded and industrious port. Napoli and 
Patras have been for many years actively engaged in in- 
tercourse with England. Corfu is crowded with Greek 
and English brigs. 1 reckoned above a hundred ships of 
all nations, our own as usual conspicuous, in the harbour 
of Trieste. Venice is recovering from her long lethargy. 
Ancona has some business, and Naples an important trade 
with us. Civita Vecchia is by no means abandoned by 
English merchantmen. Leghorn and Genoa are literally 
forested with our masts. 

Hardly a week passes that our merchant flags are not 
seen entering or leaving Palermo. We visit Candia, and 
sweep the whole of the Syrian and Barbary coasts ; every 
new year trebles our engagements at Alexandria. Mar- 
seilles, Toulon, Barcelona, Valencia, and Malaga, have for 
centuries been accustomed to our merchandise. 

Before ten years elapse, the Mediterranean will be trav- 
ersed in all directions by steamboats, and in no sea are 
they so much required on account of the variable and often 
perplexing winds, and still more provoking calms, by which 
it has been in all ages characterized. The result must 
necessarily be, that that vast lake will become the centre 
for commercial operations emanating from Persia through 
the Euxine, from Western Asia, Central, Eastern, and 
Southern Europe, Egypt, and the finest provinces of Africa 
—operations which, on account of the impulse they are to 
receive from the employment of steam-communication, 
will be multiplied to an extent of which it is impossible 
for us now to conceive even an estimate. 

If this system of active commerce demand the presence 
in the Mediterranean of myriads of our merchant vessels, 
and if it be admitted, as I apprehend it must be, that the 
Power who possesses the Dardanelles under his control 
might rush out from his strong-hold, whenever it should 
suit his convenience, capture great numbers of those ves- 
sels, and run back again behind his gates with perfect im- 
punity ; that would be a state of things not very conso- 
nant to the well-understood interests or dignity of the Brit- 
ish empire. The Dardanelles must not "become another 
Algiers. 

The question, therefore, at which the discussion has now 
arrived is this : By what process are we to frustrate the 
treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, to rescue Turkey from the 
power of Russia, and to constitute the Ottoman empire an 



200 nesselrode's answer. 

impregnable barrier against the further encroachment of 
the northern hordes in that direction?. 

It is necessary here to observe, that as soon as our gov- 
ernment received authentic information as to the conclu- 
sion of the secret treaty, they instructed Lord Ponsonby 
to remonstrate against it at the Porte in the strongest 
terms. Lord Palmerston also addressed a note to Count 
Nesselrode, intimating that the British Government disap- 
proved of that transaction, and would act as if it had 
never taken place. A similar note was addressed to the 
same quarter by the French minister for foreign affairs. 
Count Nesselrode's answer to both these communications 
was epigrammatic — Russia would act as if those notes had 
never been w T ritten. Such an answer as this was not cal- 
culated to sooth the irritation which the clandestine alli- 
ance had excited; and the next step on our part was, to 
demand explanations as to the object of the treaty, from 
the parties in whose names it had been executed. The 
reply of the Porte was an evasive commentary on its own 
copy of the treaty, which it attempted to interpret in a way 
to lead to a conclusion that the instrument was in effect so 
much waste paper. Such an interpretation as this natu- 
rally suggested the further inquiry, " if your construction 
be right, then why did such a transaction take place at all?" 
"To please Russia, in whose power we were — to get away 
her fleets and troops, as they were no longer required," 
was the Reis Effendi's reply, given less in words than by 
a shrug of the shoulder, which was much more sincere 
than any language could have been on his part under the 
circumstances. 

The explanations of Count Nesselrode were administer- 
ed in a more diplomatic form, and even assumed the char- 
acter of an argument. "You are perfectly aw T are," said 
he, "that it is an ancient regulation of the Ottoman empire 
to prohibit ships of w T ar from entering the straits of the Dar- 
danelles and the Black Sea in time of peace, and that all the 
powers have acquiesced in considering that the Porte had a 
right to make that regulation, inasmuch as the territory on 
either side of those straits v T as her own. We have done 
no more in the treaty of Unkiar Skelessi than acknowledge 
the justness of that regulation — it acts against ourselves as 
well as against you—our ships are shut out as well as 
yours — of what then have you to complain?" 

Such was the substance of an argument clothed in a 
vast mass of eloquent phraseology, in which the magna- 
nimity of the emperor in quitting the Bosphorus at a^mo- 
ment when, if he were really actuated by views of aggran- 
dizement, he might have realized them without the slight- 



treaty cr 1809. 201 

est difficulty, was put forth and extolled as the best inter- 
pretation that could be given of the treaty, and indeed the 
only interpretation worthy of his imperial dignity. Not- 
withstanding all these subtle and pompous declamations, 
the discussion is still going on, and in a direction, too ; of 
which, I have no doubt, the country will approve. 

The reader, however, who will look carefully through 
the whole of the treaty in question, and especially at the 
secret article, cannot, I apprehend, materially differ from 
the view which I have taken of that instrument. But in or- 
der that he shall have the point in dispute placed before 
him in a still clearer light, I shall here transcribe the 
eleventh article of the treaty of peace, concluded between 
Great Britain and the Porte on the 15th of January, 1809. 

"As ships of war have at all times been prohibited from 
entering the canal of Constantinople, viz. in the straits of 
the Dardanelles and of the Black Sea, and as this ancient 
regulation of the Ottoman empire is in future to be ob- 
served by every Power in time of peace, the Court of 
Great Britain promises on its part to conform to this 
principle." 

It will be observed that this article speaks of two straits 
— those not only of the Dardanelles, but also of the Black 
Sea — and that the secret article of Unkiar Skelessi limits 
itself to the Dardanelles. So far, therefore, there is a most 
material difference between the two articles. Suppose 
Russia to be at war with England, and both the Powers to 
be at peace withTurkey, then the Dardanelles and Bospho- 
rus would be shut against both by one article, but the Dar- 
danelles alone against Russia by the article of Unkiar 
Skelessi. By this r arrangement she obtains a wider range 
than the Euxine for her ships — would be enabled to pro- 
vision them at Constantinople, to enter the Sea of Mar- 
mora, and convert the Dardanelles into an outpost for the 
protection of her establishments in the Euxine. 

Under that treaty, it is impossible for Russia to be at war 
with England without Turkey becoming a party to it on 
the side of the emperor. The stipulations entitle him, 
whenever he thinks fit, to demand secours materiels from 
the Porte, not, however, for the purpose of obtaining 
secours materiels, but something else, which it is already 
agreed shall be given in lieu of them ; and that "something 
else" is the closing of the Dardanelles, and the prohibi- 
tion to all foreign ships of war to enter them, "under any 
pretext whatever." Assuming for the sake of the argu- 
ment that the word "'foreign" here is applicable to Russia 
as well as to England, even still the advantage is all on the 
side of Russia, and to the prejudice of England. The 
37 



202 TURKISH REGENERATION. 

Russian ships would have no desire whatever to come out 
and encounter ours in the Archipelago or the Mediterrane- 
an ; but our ships would have every possible motive, and, 
I fancy, no little desire to go in, to attack the Russians m 
their own seas, and to destroy their arsenals and naval es- 
tablishments at SebastopoL . 

The whole of the remonstrances, however, which we are 
fairly entitled to make against the transaction of Unkiar 
Skeiessi resolve themselves into this: that, by its effect, 
the Porte has ceased to be the mistress of the Dardanelles 
—that they are liable to be closed at the requisition, which 
means the command, of Russia; and that Russia, there- 
fore, and no longer Turkey, keeps in her hand the key of 
those gates. Need I repeat, that that key is the token of 
something more than the gold ornament we see dangling 
at the back of an imperial chamberlain: that it is, in fact, 
the sceptre of the Ottoman dominions 1 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Turkish regeneration— Decline of Fanaticism— Equality of civil rights— The Otto- 
man Moniteur— Publicity— Judicial institutions— Pressure from without— Pay- 
ment of indemnity— War— Resistance— Naval armament — Protection. 

The reader will, I trust, do me the justice to believe that 
I have not embarked lightly in this discussion. While I re- 
mained in Constantinople, and since my return home, I 
have devoted to it my best attention. It is a question in- 
volving the most important interests of the Turkish people, 
and very serious interests and national feelings on the part 
of England and France. I am deeply impressed with the 
responsibility which any writer assumes, who deals with a 
topic that may find its issue in a partial or general war, of 
which, from every motive of religion, humanity, and civil- 
ization, I entertain the utmost abhorrence. My anxious 
desire is, if an individual may so speak, that the govern- 
ments and the enlightened classes of the two most power- 
ful nations in Europe shall direct their thoughts to this 
momentous subject in time, in order not to provoke a war, 
but to prevent it. 

But it will be said that the Turkish empire is falling to 
pieces ; that it is again in danger of being attacked by Ibra- 
him Pasha, and that the sultan does not possess sufficient 
power to render his authority respected. Assuming all 
these assertions to be indisputable* to what do they lead 7 



DECLINE OF FANATICISM. 203 

Are we to be told that the Ottoman sovereign is to stand 
forever in need of foreign assistance to suppress the tur- 
bulence of his own subjects ? If this rule were to be appli- 
ed to the other states of Europe, no such thing as the prac- 
tical independence of a nation could exist upon that conti- 
nent. The subjects of the sultan are now discontented, 
because they are oppressed by his subordinate officers* 
Let the causes of complaint be removed, and obedience 
will return. The individual who wears the ensigns of roy- 
alty in Turkey, though a weak and vain prince, happens 
to have a taste for European institutions and manners: and 
he has, in point of fact, already made very considerable 
progress towards an entire revolution in the habits of his 
people. He commenced this great enterprise by destroy- 
ing the Janissaries — a body of men who, with arms in their 
hands, effectually controlled the state for centuries before 
his reign, sustained for their own purposes the fanaticism 
of the lower orders, and fomented every mean and danger- 
ous prejudice and passion throughout the provinces. 

The reader will have collected, from the preceding pages 
of this work, that the age of religious phrensy has altogether 
passed away in Turkey. The Mahomedan establishments 
of an ecclesiastical nature are, very generally, in a ruin- 
ous condition; and the people have utterlv ceased to attend 
the mosques in the crowds which formerly displayed so 
much ardour of devotion to the Koran. The frequent re- 
turns of the plague amongst them, its long continuance, its 
remarkably fatal character, and the wide range of indis- 
criminate slaughter over which it rushes, as if urged by 
some supernatural energy, are, to my contemplation, the 
lurid flashes of a destroying angel's wing, sent to announce 
the termination of the sway, which, for inscrutable pur- 
poses, had been permitted to the doctrines of the false pro- 
phet. 

It is certain that, within this last year or two, the notion 
has been generally propagated for the first time among the 
Turkish inhabitants of Constantinople, that instead of free- 
ly exposing themselves, as they did formerly, to the pesti- 
lence, under the impressions which they derived from their 
doctrines of fatalism, they now begin to understand that 
they may avoid it by proper precautions. Hence, when 
the contagion is around them, they shun the polluted at- 
mosphere of the mosques. They have already yielded to 
the prohibition issued against the use of opium ; they are 
beginning to ventilate and whitewash their houses ; they 
keep at home, nurture their natural good sense, and attend 
to the education of their families. These are important 
changes in the habits of the people; and no mathematical 



204 OTTOMAN MONITEUR. 

demonstration can be clearer than this, that such change* 
as these are but the precursors of others still more lrn- 

P °IMs'a remarkable fact, though unknown in England, 
where religious differences even still produce very serious 
differences in political privileges and rights, that the most 
perfect equality in these respects prevails in Turkey. It is 
not long since a firman was issued securing, even to 
Jews in that country, ail the privileges which any 01 
person can enjoy there— an example of toleration which 
parliament of Great Britain and Ireland has still to follow. 
The divan, under the directions of the sultan, has pre- 
pared, and' commenced putting into execution, extensive 
plans for the education of the community, without, I be- 
lieve, any distinction of religion. The plan contempl; 
the erection of colleges and universities, which, of com 
must require the assistance of time, and of a more abun- 
dant treasury than the sultan can at present command. 

An official newspaper, entitled the ''Ottoman Moniten 
has been published at Constantinople for the last eighteen 
months. The Turkish copy, printed in a beautiful type, is 
first issued, and it is followed in a few days by a French 
copy, extremely well executed in all its departments. I 
visited the establishment where these journals are printed, 
and I saw no inferiority in any of its arrangements to those 
which supply our own community with intelligence. They 
had not, indeed, the steam-press, and now and then an ir- 
regularity occurs in the days of publication ; but these 
defects which may be easily amended. The press exis 
it affords the example of sound, and, I must add, even of 
discussion, upon the most important subjects: and thii 
more than any of the northern capitals of Europe can 
boast of. 

The names of the principal public officers throughout the 
empire are periodically announced in the columns of the 
"Moniteur." Even this is a proclamation, warning them 
that they are acting under a responsibility, which is not to 
be abused with impunity. Their conduct is opei 
men ted upon; and praise and censure are distribul 
impartial discrimination, according as merit justifies the 
one, or malversation the other. The provincial governor 
can no longer perpetrate any serious outrage upon the per- 
sonal rights of those placed under his authority. B 
have been established for the guidance of these sat! 
throughout all the branches of their office ; and the slight- 
est departure from those regulations, which evince the' ut- 
most regard to the dictates of humanity and justice, is pun- 
ished in the most exemplary manner. * 



JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS. 205 

One would think that Mr. Hume had been lately a mem- 
ber of the divan; for there is hardly any class of expendi- 
ture which has not undergone a thorough revision, with a 
view to cut off every source of outlay not absolutely indis- 
pensable to the service of the state. Much still remains to 
be done, with a view to place the internal revenues of Tur- 
key upon a uniform and stable foundation ; but this is a 
difficult task, requiring a higher state of political know- 
ledge, and greater experience in fiscal combinations, than 
the divan as yet can possess. Even upon this great sub- 
ject, however, something has been done, and preparations 
for more extensive improvements are in progress. The 
duties payable in Turkish ports upon foreign merchandise, 
are very unequally charged; and the British importer has 
to complain of the great advantages secured to his Russian 
rival in this respect, by the treaty of Adrianople. Never- 
theless, the trade of Turkey with England, as I have al- 
ready stated, is constantly increasing. 

The judicial institutions of Turkey are all based upon 
principles of simplicity, equity, plain good sense, and econ- 
omy. In the foundations of its jurisprudence no essential 
change is required ; but the officers charged with its ad- 
ministration are frequently incompetent to the performance 
of their duties, and open to corruption. These abuses must 
be wholly eradicated in the course of a few years, if the 
sultan be left free to follow his own course. So also the an- 
cient municipal institutions of Turkey are famed for their 
simplicity and excellence in every respect. They only 
want revival, and the hands and thoughts of honest men, 
to carry them to the highest perfection. Ten years of in- 
ternal tranquillity, actively devoted by the divan to the 
completion of all the ameliorations which that body, under 
the inspiring guidance of the sultan, has at this moment in 
view, woulcT prepare the community for the great crowning 
achievement — a general representative assembly, where 
the Mahomedan, the Armenian, the Greek, and the Jew, 
might be seen consulting in one common spirit for the wel- 
fare of their common country. 

I fearlessly maintain, that no such result as this can ever 
be practicable in Turkey, unless she be protected without 
delay against the " pressure from without," to borrow a 
most appropriate phrase from the most distinguished states- 
man of our age. That pressure is a Russian pressure — it 
is that of a cyclop who is sidling nearer to her every mo- 
ment, in order that by his mere weight he may at length 
fall and crush her to the earth. Let us understand each 
other clearly throughout this discussion, and, above all 
things, let it be perfectly well felt that that pressure must 
37* 13 



206 PAYMENT OF INDEMNITY. 

be removed. Upon this point there must be no reserve. 
The Russian ambassador must not be u viceroy over the 
sultan." 

In order to accomplish this object. England and France 
should guaranty to Russia the payment of the balance of 
the indemnity now due to the czar from the porte ; and 
upon a convention being signed to that effect, Silistria 
should be evacuated. If such a guarantee be offered and 
refused, British and French troops should occupy the Cher- 
sonesus, or peninsula, which is situated between the Hel- 
lespont and the Gulf of Melanis, and the allied fleet should 
anchor in the Bosphorus. There would, probably, be no 
necessity for making any pecuniary advances to the sul- 
tan, to enable him to meet his engagements; but if a loan 
of five or six millions sterling be necessary fur this pur- 
pose, as well as with a view to enable the sultan "to set his 
house in order," he will then obtain it, without any difficul- 
ty whatever, in the London market. 

These reasonable arguments need not be embarrassed by 
any discussions about Wallachia, Moldavia, or Servia. If I 
be not much mistaken, these provinces will be enabled in 
due season to assert and maintain their own independence. 
Our business is at present with Turkey; and I apprehend 
that the most phlegmatic statesman can hardly say that 
there is any thing visionary in the course of action of 
which I have given the outlines. Should overtures pro- 
ceed in the spirit of these suggestions from England and 
France to Russia, and should they be coldly received, tri- 
fled with, objected to, reasoned against, refused, let every 
weapon of diplomacy be blunted in the contest of mind 
against mind— but quickly— without protocols— without con- 
gresses — by means of a few short notes, within a limited 
time. And finally, if all the means of negotiation be ex- 
hausted — if the designs of Russia upon Turkey be open 
and avowed— then let Russia proclaim her unjust War ! 

From the constitution of human society, such as the 
Creator has been pleased to frame it, one" community of 
men has no means of vindicating its own rights and dig- 
nity, when deliberately outraged by another, except by 
superiority of physical force, and of skill and courage in 
directing the application of that force. It is to be lamented 
as a defect, for which no remedy can be found in a peace- 
able order of things, that no tribunal can possiblv be estab- 
lished to which one great nation might appeal for redress 
when injured by another. Consequents, war becomes of 
it«elf an institution for the administration of justice, though 
cJct'-^ with terrors, and attended sometimes with a waste 
o: ir^man life which no good man can behold without an- 



PROTECTION. 207 

guish. But the patriot must forget his heart, when his hand 
is to be raised for the defence of his country, and of her 
independence and interests, abroad and at home. It is an 
imperative duty on us all to avoid war if we can do so 
with safety — but the moment that safety is brought into 
question, to talk of forfeiting our national honour in order 
to spare our blood, is to provoke fresh aggressions until no 
honour can remain worth the sacrifice of an insect. 

If war, then, should become inevitable, let us at once 
take up our shields. The telegraph has but to whisper to 
those shapeless masses which have lain for some years 
reposing, like so many stranded whales, on the waters of 
Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth, and suddenly, as if 
waking from a long sleep, they stretch forth their arms, 
put on their apparel, brace their mighty limbs for the bat- 
tle and the storm, gather their thunders around them, and 
unfurling their ensigns, go forth in all the majesty of col- 
lected strength, the arbiters of offended justice, the cham- 
pions of a roused and indignant people. 

For England, war this year rather than the next — for 
the next rather than the years to follow — because now we 
are armed, and Russia has still her period of eight years 
of preparation to complete. Her treasury has been ex- 
hausted by her preliminary efforts for the subjugation of 
Turkey, and by the enormous profusion of her corrupting 
policy in all quarters of Europe. Besides, a war now 
would be necessarily a maritime war alone — in a few years 
hence it would require half a world of troops. No blood 
would now be shed, if the Chersonesus were occupied, and 
our fleet were in the Bosphorus. Let us protect the sultan 
until he shall have matured the reforms which at present 
exist principally on paper — until he shall have again be- 
come a Power — until he shall have recovered Silistria — 
built new fortresses on the Danube, signed the acts of ab- 
solute independence for Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia, 
and opened his first Parliament — then Turkey will be safe; 
and whether Christian or Mahomedan, as to the majority 
of its population, it cannot long remain behind the other 
nations of Europe in the career of prosperity and freedom. 



208 ST. SOPHIA. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

St. Sophia— Armenian religion— Mustapha— Departure fron ..pie— The 

Hellespont— Change of climate-Creek nea«— Sirocco— Mitylem — P i k< W indu 
—Gulf of Smyrna— City of Smyrna— Madame >iaracim'.>— '■ Of CQUTN - Bted 

cutter. 

While I was at Constantinople, two circumstances oc- 
curred of a remarkable character— at least the Christians 
as well as the Turks deemed them so. The Turkish fleet had 
gone down to the Sea of Marmora for exercise. The sultan 
one day went in his steamboat to inspect them, and as he 
was ascending to the admiral's ship, his diamond-bill 
ataghan, which was fixed as usual in his cincture, by some 
accident got entangled with a rope and fell into the sea! 
It was the most ancient weapon of that kind in his pos- 
session ; he wore it on state i s as one of the most 
peculiar tokens of his legitimate succession to the throne, 
and it was now lost beyond all hope of r I the 
waters were unfathomable ! 

The same week the capital was visited cession 

of high winds and heavy rains, during which one of the 
domes of the celebrated temple offi >w a mosque, 

fell in ! Like the domes of St. Mark at Venice, the c< 
caves of these structures were ornamented wit: ues, 

the ground of which, if I may use such i -sion in 

an inverted sense, consisted of small solid - of 

glass, gilt under the surface — that is to say. the original 
glass surface is gilt, and then another surface 1 to 

it by a process of fusion. 1 went to visit ti: Be, with- 

out having obtained a firman for the pur i saw a 

number of men engaged in removing the ruins of the do; 
amongst which they found an abu: ^jue 

glasses. I bought a few of them as i»i< an event 

which, taken in coincidence with the other just mentioned, 
was imagined by many persons to be ominous of gi 
changes in the Ottoman empire. 

I am, I must confess, very mueh disposed to think that 
the Armenian form of religion — which is Roman Catholic 
— will sooner or later prevail over both the Greek and the 
Mahomedan in that country. The Greek pru on- 

stantinople are a grossly ignorant and mean looking set of 
men, who are incapable of exercising any influence what- 
ever on the people around them; whereas the Armenian 
clergy are well educated, always neatly attired, respecta- 
ble in their persons, of grave demeanour, and most exem- 
plary conduct. I usually heard mass in one of their churches, 
and I was struck by the solemnity with which they per- 
formed all the offices of the divine service. Tl e no 



DEPARTURE. 209 

organs, but they are never without choirs of men, from 
whose line bass voices the ancient Gregorian Kyrie Elei- 
son, Gloria in Excelsis, Credo, and Canon, came forth like 
the resound of the primitive ages of the church. 

Though unable to enter St. Sophia, I saw sufficient of 
the building on the outside to prevent me from taking the 
trouble of procuring a firman. It is a great lumbering- 
looking edifice, devoid of every feature of architectural 
beauty. I went, however, with my friend Mustapha, to 
visit the mosque of Suliman the Magnificent, which, to- 
gether with that of the Sultan Mehemet, may be consid- 
ered as among the finest specimens of Moorish taste now 
in existence. They are spacious, airy, and extremely 
graceful-looking edifices; but they have an unfinished ap- 
pearance in the interior, for they are still without their 
destined altars ! 

Mustapha, by the way, is a character, and a good one. 
I believe he was originally a Maltese ; he speaks English 
well, and has lived with the successive British consuls at 
Pera for more than twenty years. He is the consul's fac- 
totum, and for this reason, found it convenient to adopt 
the turban. Whenever I wanted his assistance to go over 
the mosques or bazaars, Mr. Cartwright most kindly gave 
him permission to attend me. He is a cheerful, willing, 
intelligent fellow, with a look of bonhommie which at once 
prepossessed me in his favour. He is full of anecdote, never 
tired of walking or talking, and feels it a point of honour 
not to let an Englishman depart from Stamboul without 
having seen " all the lions," including even the " slave- 
rnarket," which I regret to say still exists. However, I 
am assured that this disgrace to the metropolis of a reform- 
ing sultan will soon be removed. 

Slaving staid ten days at Constantinople, I became anx- 
ious to set out on my way home, and accordingly took my 
passage for Smyrna in the Spitfire sailing packet, which. 
luckily for me, had been detained a w r eek beyond its usual 
time, by the continued prevalence of southerly winds. 
Towards evening, on the day after I made my engage- 
ment with the captain, the wind changed to the north, and 
as every thing had been prepared, our anchor was raised 
at eight o'clock (26th Oct.) and we proceeded down the 
Marmora with all our canvass right before the breeze. I 
turned into my berth at ten, and never awoke until seven 
the next morning, when I was delighted to find that we 
were rapidly approaching the Hellespont. The morning 
was misty, but soon after we passed Gallipoli, and entered 
that celebrated canal, the sun shone out, and displayed in 
bright colours the castles of Abvdos and Sestos. The 

18* 



210 CHANGE OF CLIMATE. 

captain, Mitchell, an Englishman, an excellent sailor, a 
truly hospitable provider, and in every way an obliging 
and well-conducted person, pointed out to us the spot 
whence Lord Byron swam across the sea from one shore 
to the other. The beauties of the Hellespont are not to be 
compared with those of the Bosphorus. The hills on ci- 
ther side are low and monotonous ; neverthe)< b and 
there a cottage prettily situated, a garden neatly en I 
a brook shining in its silver path down the gentle declivity, 
brought back to my mind in brilliant colours those happy 
thoughts of early days, when Homer and Euripides were 
seldom out of my hands. The fl who 
frequently mentions the Hellespont, usually d 
as the "broad Hellespont." an epithet to which no one 
would think it entitled who had ever entered it. foT the first 
time, from the Sea of Marmora. 

row as the Bosphorus as far as I where it 

opens into a magnificent sheet of water, which probably 
the bard had frequently contemplate i the Trojan 

shore. 

I had heard that vast preparat: progress for 

repairing and strengthening the fortifi 
danelles^ both on the European and Asiatic banks of the 
strait; but I observed no symptom of activity about th< 
though in consequence of the wind failii 
came in sight of the castles, we were obi | 
side to side, and thus obtained a near view of both. We 
sailed slowly by the Troy founded by Alexant what 

he deemed to be the ruins of the Troy oi' Homer. The 
topographers have settled the controv- on this sub- 

ject by assigning to the latter what is now a barren plain — 
but though barren and desolate to the eye. teeming with 
memories destined only to perish with the sun by which, 
as we passed, they were illuminated. 

We all felt to be in a new climate— the clii the ri- 

pened spring, as the mountains of Ipsara, Tenedos, and 
Mytilene rose upon our vision. The air was and 

warm, and the sky, and waters, and distant hills, « er elad 
in the same transparent robes of azure. Here an 
upon the "broad Hellespont. ■■ Greek boats, with their 
striped picturesque sails, were crossing the waves, or 
stealing along the shore, where the landscape was anima- 
ted by flocks of sheep and goats, and peopled by the crea- 
tions of a mind that to this hour has found no rival amongst 
a race of beings to which he scarcely seemed to 

There is a beauty about these seas which must 
in order to be fully appreciated. The waters are so tr 
parent that I could very clearly see the fishes disporting 



MYTILENE. 211 

themselves at some distance beneath the surface. The at- 
mosphere is so pure, and the sky so serene, that every ob- 
ject moving in the sea, or visible on the land, was defined 
in all that exactness of form which stamps the picture as 
the work of a master. The sails of distant vessels coming 
down or going up the Hellespont, looked as white as snow. 

The sun set behind the peak of Tenedos, and we floated 
onwards with baffling winds until we passed Cape Baba, 
where we were met by the Sirocco, or south wind, which 
I experienced for the first time, and found rather uncom- 
fortable. The stars shone out in all their radiance, and 
the mountains and headland heights stood out distinctly 
revealed, not a vapour streaking the boundless firmament. 

Our cutter rolled a good deal during the night, the wind 
blowing right against us. We contrived, however, to work 
our way the following morning, (28th October,) into Sigri, 
an excellent little harbour in the western coast of the island 
of Mytilene, where we cast anchor. We were scarcely 
snug in our berth when a hard gale came on, and contin- 
ued to blow the greater part of the day ; even the waters 
in the harbour were so much agitated that we were unable 
to get ashore for several hours. Three or four merchant 
brigs came in soon after us, apparently pleased with their 
good fortune in having escaped the fury of the storm. 

Towards evening I went ashore with the captain. The 
village was crowded with Turkish pilgrims, who had land- 
ed from two of the brigs, which were bound for Alexan- 
dria. The village was a picture of wretchedness, protect- 
ed by an old fortification, which I attempted to enter, but 
the guard refused me permission to pass beyond the gates. 
I went into an old mosque, the minaret of which had fallen 
down; and the whole building threatened to follow its ex- 
ample. I bought some melons and grapes, which were 
tolerably good. Port dues were demanded of us, which, 
after some negotiation, the captain paid. 

When we returned to the cutter, the sea was perfectly 
calm in our harbour. A fine turtle floated on the surface, 
but it disappeared before we could catch it "napping." 
The sun set in more than ordinary splendour behind the 
small high island of Istrate, at some distance from us, but 
his last rays continued to glow for a while upon the varied 
and rugged heights of Mytilene. A golden flood of light 
was in the air behind Istrate, while the skies all around 
were tinged with a roseate hue. At night, lightnings play- 
ed on the Lesbian hiils, and the fishes that came now and 
then to the surface of the waves, sparkled like fire -flies, 
with all the beauteous colours of the rainbow. Not a star 



212 GL'LF OF SMYRNA. 

was to be seen in the upper regions of the heavens, which 
were as dark as the face of an Ethiop. 

We got under weigh at eight in the morning, (20th,) and 
proceeded on our course towards Smyrna, leaving behind 
us the brigs, which we were informed had been contending 
for the last seven days against the south winds, so that our 
friendly breeze seemed not to have at all passed beyond 
the Dardanelles. I remarked this to our captain, who ob- 
served, in his good-humoured wa; 
nothing is surprising in the Egean 
that I have often seen four or live ships, who ! 
gether for a while, all tack off su 

even opposite directions, as if each captain had a wind of 
his own in his pocket!" In point of fact, our northern ally 
did not accompany us even so far as the J 
were borne beyond them by the current, which set down 
through the Hellespont, so that we / outran our 

wind. 

Ipsara came in sight, but was soon lost again amidst the 
vapours brought on ny a squall which com 
under bare poles. Then the sun sh< is brilliantly 

as ever, disclosing towards the south I cent 

mountain ranges of Chios, those of Mj 
on our left in all their r 

mouth of the harbour of Cafoni, which run- Idle 

of the island. The weather continued squally ami variable 
until evening, when the north wind, having again conquer- 
ed all its foes, found us out oik right 
for the gulf of Smyrna. A heavy sea rolled out from the _ 
of Sandarlick, against which we had to contend for st 
time; at length we found om Booth wal 
of the gulf of Smyrna, and pn 

although the rain poured down in bio- 

sphere was loaded with vapour. The wind having again 
failed in his duties towards u<. we were i 
much against our captain's usual disposition, to let go the 
anchor at ten o'clock. 

Our admirable little cutter was once more under fall sail 
at daybreak (30th.) The shores of the bay of Smyrna 
were unfortunately covered with dense cle 
ever, cleared off partially now and then, and opened views 
of scenery, which, when beheld in all their and 

beauty, are, I have been informed, very little inferior to 
those of the bay of Naples. The bay of Smyrna is wholly 
surrounded by hills, some of which are curiously peak 
and beneath them, toward s the sea, are olive plan 
dens, groves, villas, mosques, and minarets dispersed with 
the most picturesque effect. 



MADAME MAKACINl's. 213 

The city of Smyrna was soon within sight, and before it 
were anchored upwards of a hundred vessels of all nations, 
including an Austrian ship of war, bearing the flag of Ad- 
miral Dandolo, and the British cutter Hinde, commanded 
by Lieutenant Coleman. The wind blew strongly almost 
right against us, which compelled our captain to tack con- 
stantly from shore to shore, under full sail, the edge of our 
vessel, and sometimes the mainsail itself, being washed by 
the rough and foaming waves. It was well that we had 
the utmost confidence in our captain's discretion, as it is 
very certain, according to the opinion of several English 
seamen, who observed our course with great anxiety, that 
we had too much canvass spread, and "that we ran every 
moment the risk of running under the waters to an unex- 
pected grave. 

At ten we happily anchored, but it was noon before we 
could land, on account of the violent agitation of the sea. 
I went to Madame Maracini's very comfortable hotel, where I 
took up my quarters. I lost no time, however, in proceed- 
ing to Salvo's, the great resort of our naval officers, where 
some eight or ten midshipmen were engaged at billiards. 
They informed me that the British fleet was at Vourla, a 
well-sheltered harbour on the southern shore towards the 
mouth of the gulf; that H. M. S. the Portland, which had 
joined the fleet a few days before, was ordered to proceed 
to Napoli. to relieve the Madagascar, which was going 
home, but that it must have departed the evening before, 
and that I had no chance of being in time to procure a 
passage to Greece. 

Upon further inquiry I learned that a small packet plied 
regularly between Smyrna and Napoli; that it had sailed 
for that destination a few days before ; would have to per- 
form a quarantine of seven days ; then return, wait for ten 
days at Smyrna, and then sail again for Napoli. This 
was still more disagreeable intelligence, as the idea of be- 
ing obliged to remain at Smyrna for nearly three weeks 
was by no means in accordance with my views. By some 
accident I learned that a Mr. Lewis, brother of the English 
clergyman who is stationed at Smyrna, had been lately at 
Vourla, and that he could probably give me some informa- 
tion as to the movements of the Portland. I found this 
gentleman at his brother's residence, and learned from 
him that his leave of absence as a military officer being 
expired, he was desirous of obtaining a passage to Greece, 
and thence to Malta on his way home; that he had been a 
week ago to Vourla, heard that the Portland was daily ex- 
pected, but that as soon as it had shipped on board the 
Caledonia two thousand stand of arms, which it was to 
38 



214 PASSAGE TO GREECE. 

bring out it would not delay a moment in getting under 
weigh for Napoli, and that u of course" it had already 
gone. 

Now these words " of course" have, under all circum- 
stances, appeared to rne to be the least convincing phrases 
of argument in our language. I perfectly well knew that 
my good friend the north wind, which only the evening be- 
fore had blown right into the gulf, would have necessarily 
detained the Portland at Vourla ; that during the whole 
morning the weather was rough, and the wind variable, 
and that if the Portland had departed at all, it most cer- 
tainly had not gone "of course, r unless, like some of the 
magical vessels described by my late captain, it had got in 
its pocket a wind of its own. I paid a visit to the Ilinde 
cutter, where I was received in the handsomest manner by 
Lieutenant Coleman, who, rather to my annoyance, seem- 
ed altogether ignorant of the w\ They 
were not in his dictionary. The Portland, he said, had 
arrived four days agOj was under immediate orders for 
sailing to Napoli, and must have gone. What ! with the 
wind against her 7 Yes— she was 01 i be off, and 
must have tacked out ! He then took me to h: and 
produced a decanter of capital sherry, and some biscuits ; 
whereupon we talked away as if we f; | in- 
timate friends of forty years. On my tak:; >aid 
that he was going down to the fleet the next morning, and 
if I had any fancy for taking a peep at that superb specta- 
cle, he would be most happy to give me a pas ;ich 
would only occupy two or three hours if the wind m 
fair. I readily accepted his offer. On returning from the 
Ilinde, I called on my late friends of the Spitjire, who 
sured me that the agent of the fleet had still some stores to 
transmit to the Portland, and that, considering the state 
of the weather, which had again become squally, it would 
be impossible for that ship to - be off" until the next 
morning. "Now, I know," said Mitchell, m are a 
lucky fellow, and that if you be not wanting to vourself you 
will get your passage to Greece.'' 



VOYAGE TO VOURLA. 215 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Voyage to Vourla— The British Fleet— The Portland— Captain Price— My Ham- 
mock— Bocca Silota— Cape Colonna— Greece enslaved— Greece free— Greek 
Climate— Reign of mind. 

There were several Englishmen, French, and Americans, 
at Madame Maracini's table, where I joined them at dinner. 
I soon after retired to bed, and slept until live o'clock the 
next morning, having kept a lamp lighted all night, lest I 
might be " wanting to myself." I rose, paid my short ac- 
count at Madame's, very much to her regret that it was not 
"a little longer," and was "off" with all my baggage, for 
the Hinde. We sailed at half-past seven for Vourla, every- 
body on board being " quite convinced" that the Portland 
had gone. In about an hour and a half, we arrived within 
telescopic view of the fleet, when I heard a young gentleman, 
who was on the look-out, announce that a ship was getting 
under weigh. Every telescope on board was immediately 
in requisition, and in a few minutes it was agreed on all 
hands that the ship, which had already proceeded on her 
first tack to depart from the gulf, was no other than the 
Portland, which "of course" had already gone — which 
mast have gone — which was under immediate orders and 
could not have avoided obeying those orders in spite 01 
wind and weather! 

We neared the fleet rapidly, and Lieutenant Coleman 
fortunately having letters for Captain Price, commander 
of the Portland, made a signal to the Admiral's ship to 
that effect, which was immediately answered by another 
signal addressed to the Portland, desiring her to wait for 
letters. I was in the humour to be pleased with every thing ; 
but even if that had not been the case, I should have been 
insensible to all great impressions, if I had not admired 
the superb spectacle which was now spread before me. 
Vourla is a village about five leagues to the southwest of 
Smyrna. The bay is one of the best for stationary quar- 
ters on the whole of the Asiatic coast. It is protected 
from the winds that blow up the gulf from the Egean by a 
bold and lofty promontory, and from the land winds by 
mountains which stretch round the shore. Within the bay 
the whole British fleet was anchored, consisting of the Cal- 
edonia, 110 guns ; the Britannia, 110 guns; the Thunderer, 
84; the Canopus, 84; the Talavera, 74; the Edinburgh, 
74 ; the Endymion frigate, 50 ; the Childers brig ; the Scout 
sloop ; and the Medea steamer, which had just arrived in 
eleven days from England. 

The flag of the admiral, Sir Josias Rowley, was flying 



216 THE PORTLAND. 

onboard the Caledonia, which looked like an immense for- 
tification floating on the waters. When we approached 
sufficiently near, our boat was lowered, and the transfer to 
it of all my luggage, of four seamen. Lieutenant Coleman, 
and myself, was but the operation of a moment. In a few 
minutes I ascended the ladder of the Caledonia, was in- 
troduced to the admiral, stated my n r a passage 
on board the Portland to Napoli. sanctioning my motion 
by exhibiting my Letters of introduction to all cur foreign 
ministers on the route home; obtained an order for my pas- 
sage, as desired ; told the fine old admiral all the news of 
Constantinople; saw him sign the order produced by his 
secretary, which was given in charge of an officer of the 
Caledonia, whose jolly-h< waiting to take us to the 
Portland; committed myself to the ^^u\ boat; flew along 
the waves, which gave us 
arrived alongside of Ihe Portia . 
sail; mounted the deck win 

assembled; made my b< \v to Capta who, upon 

reading the order, received me in the kind. ..or; 

shook nands with the officer who had ar 
his boat off, and myself perfectly at home on the shining 
deck of the Portland, Since that moment the words 
course," and "I am quite convin n blotted 

out from my vocabulary. 

Never having sailed in a man-of-war I now found 

myself in a world altogether new to my habits, but 
tremely interesting, as a sphere full of peculiai ich 

immediately engaged all my facutl .1. The 

Portland, of fifty-two guns, having on boi men, is 

one of the handsomest ships In cur navy. The pe: 
of system, the rapidity, the silence with which e\ :ige 

of sail was effected, were among the first objects that won 
my applause. We had baffling winds to contt nst, 

and necessarily resorted to every kind of tack which 
might enable us to cheat our atmospheric foes, and escape 
from the gulf. The arrangements for combining the 
strength of parties of men in different quart 
purpose of accomplishing the same object — the precision 
with which the successive manoeuvres we: the 

suddenness with which the deserted deck was crowded — 
the crowded deck deserted — as if the men woe called from 
their tombs, and sent back to them by the f an en- 

chanter, were to me surprising in the extreme. 

Captain Price and I speedily became friends, lie had 
the goodness to invite me to his own table, whir re 

summoned at three o'clock, by the band playing the M roasc 
beef of old England;* a tune that brought up all the as 






MY HAMMOCK. 217 

ciations of my early childhood, as I had not heard it since 
that stage of my existence. The first lieutenant, Burridge, 
who has the name (and, 1 believe, from what fell under my 
observation, most deservedly) of being one of the best 
seamen in that class of his majesty's service,) sat at the 
foot of the table; the purser, Mr. Cooper, and two or three 
other gentlemen were present. All were much interested in 
hearing the news from Constantinople, to which, according 
to my notion, an excellent dinner, graced by a bottle or two 
of champaign, imparted a most agreeable zest. Tea soon 
followed in the captain's cabin, where I might have easily 
imagined myself in a London drawing-room, fitted out in 
a very elegant manner. The hospitable occupant opened 
his collection of books for my amusement; assigned a 
writing-table to my use, furnished with the usual imple- 
ments ; desired me to consider his cabin as my own du- 
ring the voyage ; and, more than once, laughingly congrat- 
ulated me upon my singular good fortune in reaching the 
Portland at the very instant of departure. 

We remained in sight of the fleet almost the whole day; 
towards evening, ship after ship began to fade from our 
horizon; and, at length, a formidable wind springing up, 
we turned Cape Burnu and made for the Bocca Silota. 
A hammock was prepared for me in the room next to the 
cabin, and curtained by a large signal flag which reached 
nearly from one side of the apartment to the other. The 
stepping stool to my couch was a cannon, mounted, and 
prepared to ask any friend at the wrong side of my castle 
a civil question, if it should become necessary. Captain 
Price's hammock was suspended at the opposite end of 
the same opartment, and curtained in the same manner. 
During the night there was what sailors call a "stiff breeze," 
amounting almost to a storm. But a hammock is certainly 
an invention handed down among men from the days of 
Paradise. It combines every requisite for wooing one to 
sleep— and that sleep too as much superior to the lethargy 
of a four-post feather bed, as genuine, old Madeira or 
Sherry, is to what the gods of Lombard Street call "Lon- 
don Particular." 

Unless the Portland could be turned upside down by any 
chance, my individual body cared no more for tempests 
than if they were the breath of a sleeping kitten. 1 cer- 
tainly felt my repository, during some unascertainable part 
of the night, describing a very considerable segment of a 
circle, in consequence of the plunging of our vessel through 
the angry waves. Nevertheless, I knew I was under the 
care of my countrymen, and that my simple business was 
to sleep on— a business which, I may say, I executed to my 
38* 



218 CAPE COLONNA. 

own entire satisfaction, until seven o'clock the following 
day, (1st November,) when, saluting the beauteous, clear, 
cold morning, I found that we had passed through the 
Bocca Silota, and were already leaving the mountains of 
the Negropont and the island of Andros behind us. 

Tyne soon was visible far on our left, and beyond it we 
thought we could perceive through the telescope even My- 
coni and Dclos. Syra was distinctly seen. We passed 
between Macronisi and Zea, Thermia Being in the distance. 
While we were looking for the Latter, the smoke of i 
steamboat, which was passing below the verge of our hori- 
zon, was discerned. I conjectured that t ; the boat 
which had been expected for some day :, in 
order to proceed to the Black Sea and the I r the 
purpose of completing the steam navii ver. 

Captain Price hoped it was B r from Eng- 

land, charged with despatches for the ind ordering 

the admiral to sail for the J supposition 

turned out, however, to be the right one ; although, for r 
sons altogether Russian, the steam navigation or the D 
ube, has not been, to this hour, extended beyond Galacz. 
The boat, however, is now well employed rna 

and Constantinople, where it is i 
packet. 

We were almost becalmed at the entrance of the gulf of 
Athens. To be detained, however, by any circumstance, 
in such a sea, amid the isles that ''crown the Egean deep,*' 
in the neighbourhood of Snnium, whose immortal ass< 
tions. as Lord Byron truly said, "gleam along the Wi 1 
the sixteen columns of Minerva's celebrated temple rec 
ing the most glorious ages of Greece, ahould be considered, 
instead of a disappointment, a peculiarly fortunate circum- 
stance. 

"And yet how lovely in thine age of wo, 
Land of lost gods and podlike men ! art thou ! 
Thy vales of evergreen, thy hills of now, 
Proclaim thee Nature's fined favourite n 
Thy fanes, thy temples, to thy surface bow, 
Commingling slowly with heroic earth, 
Broke by the share of every rustic plough: 
So perish monuments of mortal birth, 
So perish all in turn, save well-reeorjed worth | 

11 Save where some solitary column mourns 
Above its prostrate brethren of the cave ; 
Save where Tiiconia's airy shrine adorns 
Colonna's clili** and gleams along the wave ; 

*" In all Attica," says the pect, "ifweexcepl Athene itself and Mara- 
thon, there is no scene more interesting than CapeColonna. To the anti- 
quary and! artist, sixteen columns are an inexhausubl : observa- 
tion and design; to the philosopher, the supposed scene oi some of Pla- 



GREECE ENSLAVED. 219 

Save o'er some warrior's half-forgotten grave, 
Where the gray stones and unmolested grass 
Ages, but not oblivion, feebly brave, 
While strangers only not regardless pass^ 
Lingering like me, perchance, to gaze, and sigh, ' Alas V 

M Yet are thy skies as blue, thy crags as wild : 
Sweet are thy groves, and verdant are thy fields; 
Thine olive ripe as when Minerva smiled ; 
And still his honeyed wealth Hymeltus yields; 
There the blythe bee his fragrant fortress builds, 
The free-born wanderer of thy mountain air; 
Apollo still thy long, long summer gilds, 
Still in his beam Mendeli's marbles $larej 
Art, Glory, Freedom fail, but Nature still is fair. 

"Where'er we tread 'tis haunted, holy ground, 
No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mould, 
But one vast realm of wonder spreads around, 
And all the Muse's tales seem truly told ; 
Till the sense aches with gazing to' behold 
The scenes our earliest dreams have dwelt upon ; 
Each hill and dale, each deepening glen and wold 
Defies the power which crushed tny temples gone ; 
Age shakes Athena's tower, but spares gray Marathon." 

It was to me a fresh source of delight, which Lord Byron 
could not have enjoyed, during his visit to these scenes, 
that they were no more the land of the slave ; that their 
11 foreign lord" was expelled, and that, however beautiful 
the following stanzas may be, they have already lost all 
application to the present state of Greece:— 

" The sun, the soil, but not the slave, the same ; 
Unchanged in all except its foreign lord- 
Preserves alike its bounds and boundless fame, 
The battle-field, where Persia's victim horde 
First bow'd beneath the brunt of Hella's sword, 
As on the morn, to distant glory dear, 
When Marathon became a magic word; 
Which utter'd, to the hearer's eye appear 
The camp, the host, the fight, the conqueror's career, 

"The flying Mede, his shaftless broken bow; 
The fiery Greek, his red pursuing spear; 
Mountains above, Earth's, Ocean's plain below; 
Death in the front, Destruction in the rear ! 

to's conversations will not be unwelcome ; and the traveller will be struck 
with the beamy of the prospect over ' Isles that crown the Mgean deep: 1 
but for an Englishman, Colonna has yet an additional interest, as the ac- 
tual spot of Falconer's shipwreck. Pallas and Plato are forgotten, in the 
recollection of Falconer and Campbell :— 

'Herein the dead of night by Lonna's steep, 
The seaman's cry was heard along the deep. 

This temple of Minerva may be seen at sea from a great distance. In two 
journeys which I made, and one voyage to Cape Colonna, the view from 
either side by land, was less striking than the approach from (be isles." 



220 GREECE FREE. 

Such was the scene — What now remaineth here? 
What sacred trophy marks the hallow'd ground, 
Recording Freedom's smile and Asia's tear? 
The riflea urn, the violated mound, 
The dust, the courser's hoof, rude stranger! spurns around." 

Something more than the "rifled urn," the '-'violated 
mound," and the "dust" spurned by the courser's hoof, 
does after all remain to Greece, notwithstanding the centu- 
ries she has passed under the oppression of more than 
one foreign master. I beheld Sunium restored to more 
than its ancient freedom, newly risen from the shades of 
a long night of calamity, and preparing to receive all the 
blessings which a condition of civilized i; nee can 

bestow upon a country. 

Our first intention was. to have :. Hydra 

and the shore of the main land ; but then a strong 

probability that, if the wind carried us far within the island 
it would altogether abandon us th< our 

course to a more southerly direction, hoping that some 
friendly god would send us a pocket full of wind. suffi< 
to impel our sails towards the gulf of NapolL But ^Eolus 
and his crew were all fast asleep; not a breath moved 
along the waters, and we lay all the night like a restless 
spirit, gadding slowly about, star gazing. 

I had often heard and read much of the climate of 
Greece ; but all my conceptions of it fell short of the r 
ity. I know of no principle in nature upon which the char- 
acter and the boundaries of a climate can be so clearly 
defined as they appear in these seas. liar dia- 

gram, including Argos, Corinth, :iil Av road 

Hellespont," Lemnos, and t! aos, 

Patrnos, and Crete— an area crowded witi hich, 

so far as we saw them, seemed at a it on 

the waters literally like specks oi' cloud, would compre- 
hend, judging front what I had witnessed myself and 
learned from our pilot, a portion not only of the surface of 
the globe, but also of the sky. and of the atu . pe- 

culiarly cheering to the senses, on account of the golden 
hues that are always in the firmament, the beautiful rei 
and brightness that smile everywhere on the land, and the 
never-changing, admirable azure of the i, Even 

during the nights, in line weather, these features scarcely 
vanish from, the scene. But they are arrayed in their most 
resplendent loveliness just after the sun has retired, or at 
the moment the curtains of the east are drawn back that 
he may again behold the favourite region of his domin- 
ions. 

It is no wonder that such a climate produced Honu 

17^ 



GUN-ROOM. 221 

Sappho, Euripides, Demosthenes, Plato, and those other 
illustrious poets, authors, and historians, whose names are 
even more familiar amongst us than those of the most dis- 
tinguished men of our own age and country. The feelings 
of rapture created by the influence of the pure atmosphere 
and the cloudless sky, are subdued by the gentle whispers 
of the sea, and the perfect stillness of the mountains. 
Mind reigns in all her power amidst such Elysian scenes. 
The grosser thoughts associated with the tumult of life, 
seldom cast their shade upon the intellect that here culti- 
vates, with true devotion, the impulses which lead to re- 
nown. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Gun-room— Mountains of Morea— Minister of the Inferior— Quarantine—Deck 
companions— Holystone— Mr. Dawkiii*— Russian policy— Captain Lyons— Hos- 
pitality— Hay of Napoli— Bustle of the streets— Public walks— Count Armans- 
perg— Modern Greeks. 

We lingered about Hydra all the morning, (2d Novem- 
ber,) and it being Sunday, the men all assembled on deck 
in the best clothes at ten o'clock, when the officers read to 
to them, in different groups, the Act of Parliament which 
directs that divine service shall be performed on board his 
majesty's ships of war. I confess I think that this part of 
the ceremony is particularly objectionable. To summon a 
ship's company to prayers by virtue of an Act of Parlia- 
ment, is, of all things, the most absurd, considering that a 
duty of that kind ought to be performed from motives of a 
nature altogether superior to the authority of mere tempo- 
ral legislation. The men then proceeded to the lower deck, 
where forms were arranged, and a temporary pulpit cov- 
ered with a signal flag was erected for the chaplain, who 
read the service and a very good sermon in an unaffected 
and impressive manner. I observed with great pleasure 
that almost all the men and all the boj^s had books, and 
that they attended to the solemn duties of the hour in a 
very collected and becoming manner. 

The captain generally dines in the gun-room with the 
officers on a Sunday. This, however, is by no means 
considered as a matter of course. It is always the result 
of a regular invitation formally given and as formally ac- 
cepted. The officers were so good as to send me also a 
similar invitation, of which I was most happy to avail 

}9* 



222 MOUNTAINS OF THE MOREA. 

myself. In our walks upon deck I had already become 
acquainted with most of the gentlemen on board, and it 
gave me great pleasure to meet them assembled together 
at their own table, where they appeared to be so many 
brothers. There was less of style about their saloon than 
one is accustomed to in the captain's ; but the large tureen 
of excellent pea-soup, the noble surloin of beef, the crowd 
of fowls and bacon, and stews, and vegetables of all kinds, 
and pies and puddings, with which their board was spread, 
recalled the best days of English hospitality, when the 
silver tankard, foaming with nut-brown ale, circulated from 
hand to hand, and the ruddy glow of health on every cheek 
predicted a considerable diminution in the weight of the 
plentiful dishes before they were permitted to take their 
departure. 

My friend, Captain Price, who has himself a taste for the 
beauties of nature, summoned me early on the following 
morning (3d November) to witness the effect of the rising 
sun on the mountains of the Morea. The higher peaks 
were capped with snow, and as the orb rose in the bs 
ens, new peaks similarly diademed appeared to be called 
into existence every moment, until they appeared a con- 
gress of kings. From time to time, as we were wafted 
tardily up the gulf, a different combination of mountain 
scenery opened on our view, looking like the work of en- 
chantment, as we scarcely felt the vessel moving along the 
shore of these classic and delightful regions. 

The Palamede of Napoli, as the acropolis or fortified 
capital of that ancient city is called, was already in sight, 
the Greek flag bearing the cross waving over its tow- 
but we did not reach our anchorage before it until three 
o'clock in the afternoon, when the Portland announced her 
arrival by a royal salute, conducted with that rapidity and 
order which characterize all the operations of our ships of 
war. It was very fairly returned from the Palamede. 

As we had some quarantine to go through, the duration 
of wiiich we had not yet been able to ascertain, Captain 
Price despatched a note to Mr. Waller, the secretary of 
the British legation, to make some inquiries on the subject. 
We were aware that Mi*. Dawkins, our minister, had taken 
a little trip in the Madagascar with Captain Lyons to Can- 
dia, whence he was expected back every moment Mr. 
Waller's reply was, that the " Minister of the Interior* had 
gone a little way into the country, and would return in an 
hour or two, when the period of our imprisonment would 
be settled. The title of "Minister of the Interior- for 
Greece — a country which had so long been the victim of 
misrule and oppression in every form — sounded oddly, but 



EECK COMPANIONS. 223 

by no means disagreeably in my ears. How intelligence 
connected with such a title would have thrilled the soul of 
Lord Byron ! Our messenger brought back a file of Ga- 
lignani's newspapers, down to the 10th of October, which 
afforded an agreeable occupation to us all for the whole 
evening. 

The Madagascar, which had been for some time within 
our telescopic view, came in at nightfall. I was extremely 
anxious to get ashore, to touch the soil of that territory so 
sacred in my estimation, and to behold her newly-recov- 
ered freedom in one of it earliest phases. Having letters 
for Mr. Dawkins, I sent them with Captain Price's des- 
patches as soon as the Madagascar was anchored, adding 
a note by way of petition for an early deliverance from 
quarantine. 

Upon reflection, however, I wondered at myself for feeling 
any inclination at all to quit the pleasant quarters I enjoyed 
in the Portland. I can never look back at the days and 
nights which I spent on board that vessel without classing 
them among the happiest of my life. Should Captain Price, 
Lieutenant Burridge, my good friends Cooper, the purser, 
and Captain M'Adam, of the marines, the companions of 
many of my walks on the deck, happen to see this work, I 
beg they will remember me when next they meet in the 
gun-room, and that they will assure my other friends also, 
u the members of the junior branches of the service," that 
if ever occasion should arise for her exertions, in a more 
active scene than the Piraeus, I shall look with confidence 
and peculiar interest for the despatches which shall an- 
nounce that the Portland has " done her duty." By Jupi- 
ter ! I should not like to be roaming about in a Russian 
ship of war, if any danger existed of her coming into hos- 
tile contact with those hosts of mine. I never saw them in 
their element until that day, when, in voices that had 
nearly burst the tympana of my auricular organs, their 
guns bade old Palamede u good morning !" But had they 
been blowing up the veteran ! — 

By the way, talking of tympana, I should be glad to 
learn from Basil Hall, Glascock, or Marryatt, who was the 
inventor of holystone ? Wrapped one fine morning in such 
dreams as may be supposed to haunt the mind slumbering 
within sight of Argos, Mycenae, and Tiryntha, I was sud- 
denly awoke by a succession of sounds., which were to me 
utterly incomprehensible. They were above, around, be- 
low. I made no doubt at first that we were in for an earth- 
quake, or rather for all the earthquakes that ever yet took 
place, concentrated in one series of convulsions. But this 
idea was dissipated by the regularity of the moving power, 



22i MR. DAWKINS. 

whatever that might have been, for on it went, like the 
lever of some infernal engine, scraping, rubbing, scrub- 
bing, thumping with a noise of thunder, without the inter- 
mixture of one human sound, to prevent me from believing 
that the whole of this interruption to my repose was brought 
about by some preternatural agency. I had read of the 
region where unexpiated crime is punished by "weeping 
and gnashing of teeth ;" but until Holystone morning, I 
never could fix in my thoughts any thing like an idea of 
those sounds of anguish and unalterable despair. 

Forsooth ! that the captain may be able to see his face 
reflected from the deck as in a mirror, on stated days the 
men assemble at the dawn, each with a huge brick in his 
hand, and kneeling down — whence they call the duty holy! 
— on they go over the whole surface with their inquisitorial 
torturer, until they expel from the very souls of the unfor- 
tunate planks the slightest stain of transgression. When 
the work is over, and the polished timbers shine out 
with a sort of bridal smile, the captain struts forth like a 
bridegroom, and walks up and down his empire, perfectly 
convinced that he is the happiest of human creatures ! 
The operation cannot, one should think, be pleasant to any 
man of common sense — and yet I do believe, if it were al- 
tered by any chemical substitution for a process not quite 
so horrible, the reform would lead to a general mutiny 
in his majesty's navy. Holystone and I shall never be 
friends — nevertheless, I bow to it as a most venerable in- 
stitution ! 

Mr. Dawkins came alongside the Portland in a boat from 
the Madagascar, which was also in quarantine, the plague 
having been then rife at Alexandria, which communicated 
with Candia, almost unrestricted by any sanatory regula- 
tions. That beautiful and fertile island is in the possession 
of Mehemet Ali,to whom it is rather an encumbrance than 
an advantage, for the expenditure which it costs him is 
more than double its revenue. Mr. Dawkins appeared to 
have been delighted with his visit to it, and talked of its 
lemon and orange groves in terms that made me desirous 
of following his example, if time and opportunity had al- 
lowed me. But my present purpose was to get ashore as 
speedily as possible ; and when the minister told me that 
he expected to see Price and myself, as well as his friend 
Lyons at his house to dinner, I assured him, very sincere- 
ly, that I accepted his invitation with the greatest satisfac- 
tion. I was much pleased with Mr. Dawkins. My notions 
of a man's character are pretty generally formed on a 
first interview, and I have seldom occasion to correct them. 
In this instance I saw a remarkably strong and clear mind, 



CAPTAIN LYONS. 225 

united with a most excellent heart, and every hour of my 
further acquaintance with both confirmed my earliest im- 
pressions in their favour. 

And so it happened, that in the evening (4th November) 
we really did receive from the " Minister of the Interior," per- 
mission to terminate our quarantine, which we had feared 
would be extended to eleven days. I stepped upon the 
soil of Greece with feelings which arose from the double 
reflection, that I touched a territory at once classic and 
free — classic from its own genius, and free by the genius 
of England! Those who claim for Russia any share in 
that important result, must be but very imperfectly ac- 
quainted with the policy which it was her great aim to 
establish in that quarter. It is very well known, that the 
real object of the late and the present emperor was, to 
establish principalities in Attica and the Morea, upon the 
system adopted in Moldavia and Wallachia. It was our 
business to resist and defeat that design, and we have 
succeeded — and that success is very much to be imputed 
to the exertions of Mr. Dawkins, who has represented his 
majesty in Greece during the whole of the discussions, 
which ended in the election of a Bavarian prince as the 
sovereign of the new kingdom. 

When I met Captain Lyons, I could scarcely convince 
myself that it was for the first time. There are some 
faces to be encountered in this world of ours which never 
seem new ; they approach at once without ceremony, all 
beaming with honesty of purpose, and thorough kindli- 
ness of disposition, which open an instant way for them to 
our hearts, as if they had been already its best known and 
most familiar guests. I think the \ery first words he spoke 
to me were these — " Well, as you have come to Napoli in 
the Portland, assuredly you will come home with us in the 
Madagascar" What could I say in the way of thanks to 
such a salutation as this? "But Mr. Quin shall do no 
such thing," said Mr. Dawkins, " for you are going away 
to-morrow or the next day, and if he does not stay here as 
long as he can, and see what we have been doing here 
for the last eight or ten years, his character will be lost as 
a Philheilene." Imagine these sort of things going on amidst 
iced champaign, old port, and sweet lemons, and fragrant 
oranges from Candia, after a dinner cooked and served in 
the best English style, and zested by true Yorkshire hos- 
pitality ! 

As Bruno's hotel was full, Mr. Dawkins assigned to me 

the apartments of his private secretary, Mr. Griffith, who 

was engaged at Athens in superintending the progress of 

the building which had been purchased for the future resi- 

39 



226 BAY OF NAPOLI. 

dence of the British legation. Thus everywhere I lighted 
on a home. Nevertheless, the next day finding a vacancy 
at Bruno's, I removed to his not uncomfortable establish- 
ment; as, however well disposed our ministers abroad may 
be to show every mark of attention, and even of kindness, 
to their countrymen, it is by no means fair to trespass upon 
their domestic arrangements beyond the strict necessity 
of any case that may arise. 

Before making myself familiar with the streets of Napoli, 
my first steps w r ere directed towards the mountain on 
which the Palamede is erected. Though exceedingly rough 
and rocky, there was not a handful of earth anywhere 
be seen that did not produce some kind of vegetation, and 
all of it perfumed with that wild thymy fra which I 

afterwards found to be characteristic of all th< hills 

I visited in Greece. I looked down upon Napoli, which lay 
like a map beneath me, and beheld, with a live 
gratification, the bustling crowds running here and th 
through its squares and market-places. 1 
Madagascar were anchored at BODie distance from the 
shore; near the latter were two French ships of war. under 
the command of Commodore Laland, ani thin 

the port, two Russian frigates of sixteen guna each— the 
Ajax and Achilles, stationed there for the purpose, it I 
said, of carrying on the correspondence. Several merchant 
vessels, and abundance of small craft, gave the bay an ap- 
pearance of animation. Argos, and its famous plain in the 
w r est, and the mountains which extend in a semicircle from 
its Acropolis by Mycenae and Tiryntha. around the head 
of the gulf, were reposing in the golden light of the morn- 
ing sun. A goatherd was wandering about the mountains 
with his shaggy company and one or two donkies, who 
neglected no" blade of verdure they could detect ami 
rocks, which to most other animals would have been in 
cessible. 

Accustomed to the laziness of the Turkish towns which 
I had so lately left, I was rejoiced to observe the varietj 
groups I met everywhere in Napoli, and the indust 
appeared to reign in almost every habitation. ! 
English, Bavarians, Greeks from all the provinces, in t: 
beautiful and gay costume, moving about with that air of 
freedom to which we are habituated at hom 
estimation, as the best commentary that could be 
upon their revolution. Except at Pera, and In on 
bazaars at Constantinople, I had not see;, ok- 

8hop since I left Vienna, and nothing like a ne\ 
since I quitted France. Here I beheld 



BUSTLE OF THE STREETS. 227 

other ; I think there were six or eight in all, and they ap- 
peared to be well frequented. 

In the afternoon the public walks near the town displayed 
a still greater variety of costume, as the ladies made their 
appearance, some as pedestrians, some riding, others in 
carriages, attended by military officers in their handsome 
uniform; by several English gentlemen, some of whom 
were, like myself travellers ; some, as General Church, dis- 
tinguished Philhellenes; by noisy Greeks, who with their 
freedom seemed to have completely recovered their ancient 
propensity to talk ; by the ministers and other members of 
the different legations; and by mercantile gentlemen, who 
appear not to have yet established their legitimate grade in 
the social intercourse of the country. The "junior branch- 
es of the service" intermingled also in this interesting scene, 
"on the look out;" while idling soldiers, tars, nurses, ana 
children, contributed to swell the ranks moving up and 
down with great regularity. Among the distinguished of 
the scene were the Countess Armansperg and her daugh- 
ters, and the lady of the Russian envoy. 

As a first external view of the changes which had alrea- 
dy come over Greece, these exhibitions were by no means 
unsatisfactory. I was told, however, that beneath all this 
pleasant- looking surface, much rankling, and jealousy, and 
ambition, and disappointment, prevailed; that cabal was 
working in its dangerous sinuosities, and rivalry, or rather 
envy, was planning perpetually fresh disturbances ; that is 
to say, in Greece there are men and women, as well as in 
England or France, who are desirous of profiting by cir- 
cumstances to advance themselves and their families in the 
world. So much the better. It is upon such constant per- 
sonal warfare, whether latent or avowed, that nations must 
always depend for their progress in civilization. I was 
glad to hear that there was so much of it already in Greece; 
and although one might wish to see the contest carried on 
with more generosity and charity on all sides, nevertheless 
we must take men as we find them, and look forward to a 
more perfect stage of society, when that which we now 
justly stigmatize as envy, may become emulation; when 
cabal shall be impotent against public opinion ; and disap- 
pointment in the different walks of life shall only be the por- 
tion of those who, from want of conduct or of talents, are 
unfit to gain the distinctions to which they aspire. 

There were evening assemblies once a week at Count 
Armansperg's, one of which T attended. The rooms were 
crowded. The count is a man of tried ability, of simple, 
engaging manners, much attached by sentiment to Greece, 
and to every thing Greek, possessing a mind stored with 



228 MODERN GREEKS. 

various information, and remarkably well fitted to be the 
Mentor of the young monarch, who has lately taken into 
his own hands the reins of sovereignty. It has been wise- 
ly arranged that the termination of the regency was to be 
attended with no substantial change in the position of the 
count. He is now arch-chancellor of the kingdom, an of- 
fice which will enable him more effectually even than that 
he lately held as the head of the regency, to carry into ex- 
ecution his plans for the gradual regeneration of a country 
and a people, capable of being raised to a most important 
rank among the civilized communities of Europe. 

It is a kind of fashion amongst our circle- at home to de- 
cry the Greeks as a set of kn . banditti, sv. 
gerers, and peculators, of whom no l^j-mI can ever be au- 
gured. Is perfection, then, to be expected at once from a 
nation just risen from along night of .on, with all 
the marks of the manacle upon its limbs, and with all the 
defensive stratagems of the slave still lurking in its mind? 
Have we no knaves, no idlers, no swaggerers, no pecula- 
tors, in England? Are none such to be found in France ? 
I know nothing more unjust, in every sense of the word, 
than the vituperative language which I have heard ew 
where uttered against the Greeks since my return he: 
The truth is, that they are neither more nor le> 
to moral character, than any Other people. My ace 
has taught me this truth, that under every phasis of civil- 
ization, whether the brightest or the darkest, the sum of hu- 
man happiness or virtue, of misery and vice, is much the 
same, and that it generally bears about the same pro; 
tion to the number of families comprised in each community. 

The Greeks require time for repairing the ruins of their 
ancient institutions, and for engrafting upon those institu- 
tions, with the requisite skill, which can alone ensure suc- 
cess, such improvements as the new interests of 
may demand. They come to the task of reform with in- 
calculable advantages, which will enable them to accelerate 
their march towards a stable government, and an 
compact, social condition. They have the pre- \vs- 

paper, the railroad, the steamboat: they soon will hav 
powerful tide of public opinion, representing not the | 
sions, but the good sense of a decided majority of their in- 
telligent men ; they have derived from their illustrious an- 
cestors minds capable of any thing within even the higfc 
range of the human faculties; they possess powerful mus- 
cular frames, inured to labour: they are prone to B 
tural and commercial pursuits: they are easily rendered 
excellent soldiers and the best sailors'in the Mediterraiuv 
they cultivate a land where, although barren mount.. 



DEMOCRACY. 229 

abound, the plains compensate for that sterility by their 
double harvests, when properly irrigated; and as their 
great object will be to restore, having little to invent in the 
way of government, laws, manners, arts of navigation and 
war, industrious occupations, whether connected with the 
soil or manufactures, the convenience or amusement, the 
wants or embellishments of social existence — they will un- 
questionably have fewer difficulties to contend against than 
any other people on the earth, struggling at the present 
moment to emerge from barbarity to freedom. 

Many persons have lamented that instead of a monarchy, 
a republic had not been established in Greece. I am not 
one of those persons. The purely democratic forms of 
government, attempted to be established in the new states of 
South America, have already cost those countries oceans 
of blood, and mines of gold; and at this hour they appear 
to be farther removed from the stages of peace and pros- 
perity, than they were even when oppressed by the domina- 
tion of Spain. 

I have taken none of my notions of the United States 
from the works of English or other foreign tourists. I have 
conversed with Americans; I constantly read their reviews 
and magazines, and, above all, their newspapers, which re- 
flect their manners, ideas, and every-day practices, as in a 
glass; and I find, on the whole, that a president may, 
during his hour upon the stage, play many more of the tricks 
of a tyrant, than a monarch of England would dare 
even to meditate ; that a senate may be as obstinate 
and as wrong as a house of lords, without their dignity; 
that a congress may be, in every possible attribute re- 
quisite for legislators and statesmen, infinitely below com- 
parison with a reformed house of commons; and that a 
whole mass of sovereign citizens may be actuated by 
feelings of the most rancorous jealousy, which enter into 
and disturb all the relations of life, while the loyal sub- 
jects of a king, possessed of a free constitution, which they 
know how to guard, may also have their political quarrels; 
but that the stability of the succession to the crown, of 
property, and of the natural gradations of rank, and the 
perfect capability which the lowest individual on the scale 
enjoys of ascending to the highest, if borne thither by his 
merits, and by the approbation of his country, offer to so- 
ciety pledges of public and domestic happiness, and of 
steady, progressive improvement, as yet unrivalled by any 
other nation. 

It is certain that the earliest, and, for a long period, the 
only, form of government, which prevailed in the various 
cities or states of Greece, was that of monarchy, controll- 
39* 



§ ] 



230 THE SENATE. 

cd by councils of the elders, and of the great body of the 
people. Wisdom, or the acquisition of years spent in tem- 
perate, virtuous, and thoughtful habits, and the same quali- 
fications which entitled a citizen to become a senator, 
gained for him also an unbought veneration, which natu- 
rally diffused itself over all the members of his family. 
Thus, an aristocracy, in the literal sense, was one of the 
very first products of society ; and though it rarely happens 
that the wisdom of the sire descends in all its plenitude to 
the son, still, in the natural order of things, such a trans- 
mission is presumed, and the rank and merits of the an- 
cestor shed a lustre upon his posterity, which is guarantied 
by their uncontested inheritance of his name and possess- 
ions. It is not probable, therefore, that the creation of a 
class of nobility was the work of any lawgiver, for it ex- 
isted as soon as communities found themselves provided 
with a regular system of government. 

In process of time the council thus became an assembly 
of men, young and old, whose only right to the exercise of 
senatorial functions arose from descent. To establish 
that right, the preservation of pedigrees was necessary ; 
it soon grew into a subject of pride, and formed a decided 
mark of distinction, which, while it repelled the familiarity 
of the multitude, attracted their respect. They were natu- 
rally as deeply interested in the maintenance of public lib- 
erty, as the people themselves ; indeed, more so. for they 
had rank and property to lose. 

From the comparative paucity of their numbers, they 
were easily convened ; the same circumstance gave con- 
sistency to their deliberations ; and hence we find that in 
almost all the states, the council of nobles formed an inte- 
gral branch, not only of the legislative, but also of the ex- 
ecutive departments of government. The prince scarcely 
did any act of importance without their sanction. It v 
his duty to offer his own opinions in council, to hear those 
of its members, and to adopt that advice alone which ap- 
peared to him most conducive to the general welfare. In- 
deed so intimate was the connexion between the senate 
and the chief magistrate, that they may be said to have 
conducted the ordinary affairs of government in conjunc 
tion. They judged of the necessity of sending ambas 
sadors to other states, and even nominated them. They 
received also the ambassadors from foreign powers. They 
had authority to confer grants of land, and to bestow other 
rewards, on those individuals whose public services de- 
served well of the country. They were the depositories 
of those principles of natural equity, and of those customs 
peculiar to each state, which, added to a few maxims hand 



ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 231 

ed down from sage to sage, formed the only code of laws 
with which they were as yet conversant. 

The necessity of resorting so frequently to the senate for 
advice, and of depending on its members for the ordinary 
administration of public affairs, created of itself a limit to 
the authority of the prince, beyond which, if he had the dis- 
position, he had not as yet the means to force it. They 
were the dispensers of justice between man and man. 
The prince more than insinuated that he derived his scep- 
tre from Jove, though he acknowledged at the same time 
that he was to frame his counsels according to the laws. 
His race was moreover looked upon as sacred ; and this 
species of sanctity with which he was surrounded render- 
ed his person inviolable. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Administration of justice — Popular assemblies — Free constitution — Bavarian code 
— Reforms— Agriculture— Aristocracy — Argos— King Otho— Russian intrigues 
— Greek church — Synod — Russian church — Religious feeling — New coinage. 

Generally speaking, the political deliberations of the 
senate were conducted upon principles of the purest lib- 
erty. Perfect freedom of opinion was the right of every 
senator — a right, not depending on the permission of the 
prince, but firmly established by law. 

In all ordinary matters, then, the prince and the senate 
usually decided. Questions, however, whether of policy 
or law, in which the people were materially interested, 
were discussed by the senators in their presence. Justice 
was administered in the forum by the elders; of the merits 
of the judicial decision, the people, who commonly crowd- 
ed the forum, were the sole arbiters. When an elder or 
judge delivered his opinion, they evinced their disapproba- 
tion or assent by murmur or applause. Each party plead- 
ed his own cause, the elders sitting in the middle of the fo- 
rum, on marble seats highly polished, to remind them of 
the mental purity which they ought to bring to the dis- 
charge of their office. They formed a circle, held sceptres 
in their hands, and the people around them were restrain- 
ed by heralds, whose province it was to preserve order in 
the assembly. Witnesses were heard as to the fact of 
the case, and when both the litigant parties had con- 
cluded their statements, the elders rose, one after the 
other, and explaining the law, pronounced their opinions 



g32 TREE CONSTITUTION. 

on the question at issue. That which was most agreeable 
to the majority of the people prevailed. 

So also when an impost was to be levied, tlm senate and 
people met in general council; and if the object for which 
the impost was required were appr< -pi* 

agreed to pay such tributes as weie necessary, consisting 
of ships for foreign expeditions, corn. 
habitants of towns yielded regular cont 
prince, which they levied amongst thei 
held h'im in particular reverence, thei 
gratuities to maik their attachment 

Thus, then, in the most ancient conditio 
people we find all the traces of a free const 
whose power was Limited by 
control of a senate of nobles. We find t: 
not only as a free legislative assembly, 
cial tribunal. We find another i I of 

the people, whose duty it was to xes, 

and act as the arbiters of justice in th< 
exhibiting the very power which led i: 
the establishment of the HoiU 

tern of juries. In the towns we discern ti i of muni- 

cipalities. We see the law and the administration 
tice held in the most sacred i and notwithst 

the many centuries that have since intervei 
many vicissitudes through which the Greeks have strug- 
gled once more to a state of nation;:! 

dom, there is nothing more certain than this, that the prin- 
ciples of their ancient customs have m • oily 
obliterated from the minds of that people. 

It can be a matter, therefore, of no serious diffi re- 

vive in Greece the free institutions which Gn i 
haps the first nation in Europe to appreciate arid ei 
I am aware that from the unfortunate dissensions which 
broke out in the regency soon after its establish m< 
little progress has been effected in reorc 
The attempt also which was made by that 
into the monarchy a system of laws dei from 

the Bavarian code, was a most dangerous mistake 1 
was in that code no one principle congenial to the hi 
of the people, and the consequence was natural— the . 
ment it was promulgated it proved to be utterly 
cable. The business of the legislator In Greet study 

her most ancient laws, and to reproduce them with such 
analogous developments, or such modifications and - 
pressions as the modern improvements in society may 
mand. 

Preparations were already in progress at Napoli for the 



AGRICULTURE. 233 

removal of the seat of government to Athens, and for the 
inauguration of the king— events which have since taken 
place. A legislative council has also been appointed, in- 
cluding the heads of every party, and although no repre- 
sentative assembly, no judicial tribunal, no municipalities 
have yet been constituted, yet measures have been adopt- 
ed for the accomplishment of all these great objects. In- 
deed, the outlines of municipalities have been despatched 
to Argolis, Arcadia, Messenia, Attica, Phocis, Locris, Eu- 
boea, and the Cyclades. Provisional tribunals have also 
been established in several districts, which act with the 
consent of parties until the code of laws shall be comple- 
ted. The police of the country has also been placed upon 
an effective footing, by the employment of a body of about 
a thousand men, as patroles, on the principal lines of com- 
munication through the interior of the country. These offi- 
cers have been judiciously selected from amongthePalicha- 
ri, u-ho had previously been themselves the chief agents of 
disturbance and of annoyance to the traveller. They 
have become now the best guardians of the public peace, 
because, as they are well paid, they have a direct interest 
in its preservation. 

The natural mind of Greece is peculiarly favourable, 
from ancient associations, to the establishment of a free 
constitution. Fortunately, also, the government has only 
to refer to the early ages pf that country for models of 
every species of enterprise by which the fertile tract of land 
in which it abounds were turned to the utmost possible ad- 
vantage. The great evil arising from the generally moun- 
tainous nature of its territory, is, that in some places the 
even plains at the feet of those mountains are filled with 
stagnant waters, collected from the neighbouring heights, 
while In other places the waters generated on the mountain 
tops escape too speedily to the sua, leaving the declivities 
and inclined plains over which they rush without sufficient 
moisture for the growing season of the year. In ancient 
times, this double evil was guarded against with w T onderful 
industry and success. Wherever the waters from the 
mountains were likely to stagnate, sewers were construct- 
ed to carry off the superfluity; wherever the torrents were 
too rapid, they were diverted into reservoirs, whence they 
were gradually distributed over the soil, so as to afford it 
all the advantages of complete irrigation.' During the ages 
which have since elapsed, the sewers have been choked 
up, and the reservoirs have been destroyed; the conse- 
quence of which is, that at the present day, some of the 
very best parts of Greece are altogether lost to the pur- 
poses of agriculture. The government will have simply to 

20* 



234 ARISTOCRACY. 

direct the old sewers to be cleaved and repaired, and the 
reservoirs to be re-established, in order to render Gre« 
for its extent, the most fertile kingdom in Europe. 

In the actual state of things it is probatory not an inexpe- 
dient principle of legislation to say. that tl ill be no 
aristocratical order allowed in that country. So many 
persons of equivocal character, of undou 
and discontented views, would put forward pi 
nobility, which could not be i 
existence of the monarchy, that 
exclusion is preferable to partial admissk) 
tion of majorats, however, 1 take 
well as undesirable, for any length of time, in 
cal government When that govern 
quired force, it can only be retained 1 .;■ divided 
amongst the aristocracy, which will i 
up in the mean time in the prof. 
paths of life. The leading men in these 
sentative assembly, at the bar. and in iavy, 
will adhere together according I mmon c 
things, and form an aristo at will be acknowledged 
by the people, and must be respected by the kii 
ought to precede and encourage 

best that can be constituted •. for I lock upon the repub. 
notions of universal equality as inc. I with ali 

tendencies of the human mind, which, likl BUT* con 

tinually pointing upwards. 

I spent a day at Axgos. visiting, on my return to Napoli, 
the celebrated walls of Tiryntha. which, even in the I 
of Homer, were looked upon as the remains ot one of the 
most ancient cities in the world. 1 node over in oi 

Argos, with a view to see the lake of Lei 
antiquity. It is now confined to a small ; 
larger than the mouth of an ordinary well, but il in 

its neighbourhood is so marshy, that without a guide 
stranger ought to venture upon it. My horse sunk at one 
place nearly up to the girth j it was with great d 
that the animal extricated himself, and if my stirrup le. 
ers had not been fortunately on a sprin 
allowed them to come away horizontally. 1 might '. 
been seriously involved in his danger. 

Mr. Dawkins took the earliest opportunity wine!) ( 
etiquette could permit of presenting me to the k:;..: 
tain Price was presented at the same time. 1 need ha: 
add that we were both received in the most J OS man- 

ner. Otho, though little more than ninety 
at that period, had already assumed a gra . 
meanor, well calculated to temper the fe 



KING OTHO. 235 

naturally generated by the appearance of youth in a station 
of so much responsibility and importance. He possesses 
all the advantages of a fine figure, and a»countenance pecu- 
liarly German, beaming with benevolence, and not un- 
marked by that order of intellect which, though slow to 
perceive, is strong for the retention of useful principles, 
and likely to act with great circumspection in reducing 
them to practice. Dressed in the blue uniform of a gen- 
eral officer, he met us without pageantry, being quite alone 
in a handsome saloon, to which we were conducted by his 
chamberlain, addressed us in French, and the conversation 
turning at once upon the approaching removal of the seat 
of government to Athens, he dwelt upon the topic with evi- 
dent satisfaction. II** had words of courtesy for Captain 
Price, whom he hoped to have the pleasure of frequently 
seeing; alluded in emphatic terms to the uniform attach- 
ment which his predecessor. Captain Lyons,* had shown 
to the cause of Greece on every occasion, and became an- 
imated by the prospects which, he said, every succeeding 
day served to extend and confirm for the interesting coun- 
try of his adoption. 

The king appeared to be on the most cordial footing 
with Mr. Dawkins. with whom he chatted for a while, and 
then turning to me, inquired very minutely about the route 
I had taken in the course of my journey. I did not omit 
to inform his majesty that I had passed through Munich, 
which, under the auspices of his royal father, was becom- 
ing quite Italian in the beauty of its streets and palaces, 
and in the splendour of its public galleries. I described in 
a few words my steam-voyage down the Danube, as he 
appeared to have been already aware of the enterprise for 
the navigation of that river, cxid seemed to take a lively in- 
terest in its success. The topic led to the projects which 
were entertained for imparting to Greece all the advan- 
tages of the steamboat, and he very justly remarked that 
to no country in Europe could that invaluable instrument 
of commerce and civilization be more eminently useful, 

* While this sheet is passing through the press, I am happy to observe 
that Captain Lyons has succeeded Mr. Dawkins as British envoy to the 
court of Athens. Lord Palmerston could not have possibly made a more 
happy appointment than this. Captain Lyons enjoys the entire confi- 
dence of the king, as well as of Count Armansperg ; and I am convinced 
that the interests of Greece in her relations with England could not 
have been committed to better hands. It is very well known that Mr. 
Dawkins had been anxious for the last two or three years to return 
home, as in fact Englishmen are in general desirous of doing, who 
have been lon<* engaged at a foreign station. But his services are of 
that class of which the country ought not to be long deprived, whether 
available at home or abroad. 



236 



RUSSIAN INTRIGUES. 



than to that with whose happiness he was now identified. 
We then withdrew, Captain Price and I both simultane- 
ously observing, after we came out, that the audience had 
left most agreeable impressions on our minds, the more es- 
pecially as we had not been altogether prepared for the in- 
telligence and the winning simplicity of manner which the 
young monarch displayed. 

The general feeling among the best informed persons 
whom I had encountered at Napoli was, that Otho appear- 
ed likely to prove an excellent sovereign in every respect, 
and that his reign promised to be tranquil and prosperous. 
Russia, as usual, had continued the attempts which her 
agents had carried on from the beginning of the Greek 
revolution, with a view to prevent the establishment of free 
and permanent institutions. Her policy everywhere out 
of her own empire is, "divide, that I may rule." Disturb- 
ance, apprehension, and anarchy, in any quarter, serve to 
divert the attention of Europe from the designs which she 
is maturing in the East, and no opportunity, be it ever so 
slight, is neglected on the part of her numerous agents, 
which may contribute to carry the suggestions of that 
policy into execution. 

It was thought that the arrangements made with respect 
to the Greek church, might have been converted by those 
persons into an inexhaustible source of discord as between 
the Greeks themselves, and as between the nation and its 
Roman Catholic sovereign. The head of their church 
having always been the patriarch, residing at Constanti- 
nople, it was found necessary when the sultan recognised 
the formation and absolute independence of the new mon- 
archy, to terminate its ecclesiastical connexion with an 
individual, who might be supposed capable of acting under 
the sultan's influence. I believe it is strictly conformable, 
in such cases, with the discipline and practice of the Greek 
church, to confide its spiritual government to a synoc of its 
own bishops, whose authority is in every way a competent 
substitute for that of the patriarchal office. This altera- 
tion from the usage of some centuries, was rendered ne- 
cessary in Greece" by the restoration of its national exist- 
ence; but the Russian minister would not afford it his 
sanction, conceiving that the patriarch's authority (which 
would be Russian and not Turkish) ought not to'be inter- 
fered with, or that if it were, the only course left open for 
the church of Greece to adopt, would be to place itself in 
communion with the patriarch at Moscow! 

Co-religionism has been the uniform, and I must add, the 
powerful pretext by the judicious use of which the agents 
of Russia have succeeded in extending her authority over 



RUSSIAN CHURCH. 237 

the whole of the Sclavonic tribes, spread through Moldavia, 
Wallachia, and Servia. It is the apology for her intermed- 
dling with the affairs of Turkey, and it was boldly insisted 
upon as an excuse for the assumption, on the part of the 
Russian minister at Napoli, of a sort of ascendency in the 
councils of the new kingdom. The appointment, however, 
of a synod of bishops for the purpose of presiding over 
the spiritual government of the church, exhibited a deter- 
mination on the part of the Greeks to maintain in every 
way the independence they had acquired. This course of 
proceeding did not suit the views of the emperor; ac- 
cordingly it was declared by his agents that the church ot 
Greece, by separating itself from the authority of the 
patriarch, had become schismatic, and therefore he could 
not acknowledge it any longer as the Greek church, — it be- 
came a new sect, with which he could hold no communion. 

Forthwith an Archimandrite, several priests, and a full 
choir were despatched from Petersburg to Napoli, and a 
chapel splendidly ornamented was erected behind the Rus- 
sian minister's house, in which the service of the truo. 
Greek church was performed every Sunday. This chapel 
was open to any Greek who felt that his countrymen had 
become heretics ; and the fears of the conscientious, as 
well as the scruples of the timid, it was hoped, would in 
due course of time swell the attendance at the chapel, and 
of course excite religious controversy all over the coun- 
try, which could only produce one effect, that of creating 
a Russian party sufficiently powerful to overwhelm any 
other that existed, or that might arise in Greece. 

Never was a Russian intrigue carried on with more in- 
genuity, or with a more plausible appearance of success 
than this affair of the schism; nevertheless it resulted in a 
complete failure. The chapel was well attended, because 
the choir was attractive, and the congregation "fashiona- 
ble;" but no impression was made by this manoeuvre upon 
the country. It is not at all improbable that this failure 
may be attributable to the general indifference which pre- 
vails in Greece upon questions of an ecclesiastical nature. 
The condition of dependence to which the Greeks had 
been so long inured, the destruction of their temples 
which took place during the war of the revolution, and the 
general ignorance of their clergy, necessarily contributed 
to impair, and almost to extinguish very generally the 
strong sense of religion by whioh the subjects of the 
Byzantine empire had been in former ages peculiarly dis- 
tinguished. 

My days passed like hours in Napoli, but I was obliged 
to economize them, as I hoped to reach Corfu, in time for 
40 



£38 TRATELLIKG IN GREECE. 

the steamboat to Ancona, whence I intended to hasten 
homewards. To leave Greece, however, without visiting 
Athens, would be a sort of classical high treason; and so 
having engaged, through the agency of Bruno, a pair of 
horses at five drachmas each, I set off (8 November) for 
Epidaurus. One of the first measures of the regency was 
to restore all the denominations of the ancient money of 
Greece; accordingly, a new coinage, the dies for which 
were beautifully executed, was manufactured at Munich, 
consisting of gold pieces of twenty drachmas, silver crowns 
of five drachmas, silver drachmas, half and quarter 
drachmas, copper pieces of ten, five, and two leptas, and 
single leptas, the latter being worth about half a farthing, 
while the drachma is equivalent to little more than eight 
pence of our money. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Travelling in Greece— Hiei on — Mysterious companion— Dangers of the glen— 
Speculations — Inclinations to bri»andage— Alarm— A virtuoso — Enidaurus— 
Greek servant — Fresh arrivals— On the lookout— Mosaics— A sail— Ruins — Ar- 
cadian scene— Pastoral happiness— Diorama. 

Travelling in Greece I soon found to be a very different 
affair from travelling in Turkey. A small jog trot, or rather 
a walk at a snaiFs pace, is the usual rate of journeying 
throughout the Morea, at all events. Indeed, the bridle 
tracks, which are called roads, are so rough, that it would 
be impossible for anybody, except a Tartar, to think of 
getting on at a much higher estimate of space than about 
three English miles an hour. The same horses are often 
engaged for journeys of three or four days successively — 
no great hardship either, seeing that they seldom steal 
over more than twenty miles of ground in a day. The 
guide usually walks behind, driving the luggage horse on 
before him; or if he be a lazy rascal, as he most common- 
ly is, he perches himself on the unfortunate animal's neck, 
between the portmanteaus, and carpet bags, as well as he 
can; falls asleep, sings or whistles at intervals, as his fan- 
cy suggests, neither he nor his companion in idleness ap- 
pearing to have any one object in this world at heart, ex- 
cept the diffusion of the smallest possible quantum of 
exertion over the most ample measure of time. 

We left Napoli at noon, and at three o'clock stopped at 
a fountain, where extricating from my suede cuisine a fowl, 



MYSTERIOUS COMPANION. 239 

t dined. Near Ligurio I turned off from the main path to 
the right to visit the celebrated ruins of Hieron — ruins in- 
deed, for, with the exception of a few remnants of the 
benches of the theatre, scarcely any thing remains to be 
seen. I have no doubt that excavation would disclose 
abundant memorials of antiquity in that quarter. The sa- 
cred grove itself however, fully repays the trouble of find- 
ing it out. It is called sacred, because it was dedicated to 
^Esculapius, and being throughout situated in a glen, must 
indeed have afforded a most delightful retreat from the 
summer and autumnal suns, to the voluptuous inhabitants 
of Argos, Hermione, Epidaurus, and even of Athens, when 
those cities were in their "high and palmy state." 

The ravine runs to a considerable distance between two 
lofty ranges of mountains, the declivities on each side be- 
ing thickly planted by nature with every variety of tree 
and shrub, that could afford not only shade, but beauty to 
the scene. These trees and shrubs descend along the 
shelving sides of the mountains, from the summits on ei- 
ther side to the very edges of a torrent which rushes 
through the deep vale below. The murmurs of tributary 
streams falling into the torrent from the neighbouring 
rocks — the songs of birds — the waving of branches, when 
the salubi'ious breeze awoke them from repose — the inces- 
sant sound of mineral fountains, celebrated for their effi- 
cacy in cooling the fever, or recalling the falling energies 
of the human frame — the proximity of magnificent tem- 
ples, where the votaries seldom prayed for health in vain 
— and of a most splendid theatre in which the dramatic 
muse of Greece exhibited all her charms, were well calcu- 
lated to bestow that character of sanctity upon the grove, 
which its appearance justifies even to this day. 

As we rode along through this glen by winding tracks 
which sometimes led us close by the bed of the torrent, where 
we seemed lost in darkness, sometimes to the higher declivi- 
ties, whence we could scarcely discern the foam gleaming 
in the partial lights that here and there found their way to 
the profund abysses, we were suddenly joined by another 
traveller, wrapped in a cloak, whose cunning face and re- 
served manner by no means attracted my confidence. I 
must frankly confess, that I looked at first upon this appa- 
rently-accidental junction as an affair arranged between 
my guide and the captain of a band of brigands. As we 
were passing under the outer gate of Napoli I had noticed, 
as I thought, a mysterious communication pass between 
my friend and a person of somewhat military aspect, who 
was riding in the same direction with ourselves ; but as 
be soon after turned away to a small inn in a field off the 



240 DANGERS OF THE GLEN. 

road, where he dismounted, I had forgotten the circum- 
stance, until after examining the countenance of this stran- 
ger, I convinced myself that he was the same man. 

Beyond the usual words of salutation, no signs of re- 
cognition escaped either of my companions. We rode on 
in silence. The track through this mountain forest being 
so narrow that w T e were oblfged to proceed one after the 
other, the guide in front, I next in succession, and in the 
rear he whom I took to be a decided bandit. Happening 
to look behind me, as my horse stopped to drink from a 
stream that crossed our path, I detected the gentleman in 
the act of replacing a pistol in his belt, where the handle of 
an ataghan also presented a formidable state of prepara- 
tion if any thing were meditated against myself, who had 
no arms at all — not even my umbrella, for I had lost it. 

Before my animal had sated his thirst, my guide re- 
turned to the stream, where we three now met face to face, 
the horses being, as I believed, the only members of the 
party who rejoiced in the circumstance. I thought they 
never would have done drinking the crystal element, that 
bounded from the rocks above us with a mirthful uncon- 
sciousness, which at the moment was to me peculiarly 
enviable. I wondered within myself in what way the man 
at arms had resolved to attempt the accomplishment of his 
object; whether he meant to begin operations with his ata- 
ghan, or reserve it as his last resort ; or whether he in- 
tended preluding with his pistols, and if so, in what part of 
my anatomical system he expected to deposite their con- 
tents. I made no doubt at all that I was in serious peril oi 
my life; but I was also equally resolved on two things: 
first, not to be taken unawares, and in the next place, to 
become myself the assailant, the instant 1 perceived any 
movement unequivocally meant as an act of hostility. At 
all events, there must be a battle for it, thought I, and it 
w 7 as not impossible that I might succeed in pushing my 
antagonist, horse and rider, to the edge of a precipice, 
whence he might most probably find his way to the re- 
gions below. 

My quadruped, having sufficiently refreshed himself with 
the cool spring, went on. I had no objection to this change, 
as, if the guide immediately followed, which happened to 
be the case, he would interpose to some extent as a shield 
against any sudden attack, and possibly might receive the 
first bullet intended for me. Our course lay over rocks, 
which nevertheless were so thickly wooded" that we were 
frequently obliged to stoop our heads in order to escape 
from the impending branches. At length we were com- 
pelled, by the frequent recurrence of such impediments. 
32* 



INCLINATION TO BRIGANDAGE. 241 

to dismount, and allow the animals to take their own way. 
Here then was a moral certainty that this particular route, 
impassable for equestrians, was selected by my guide for 
the special purpose of executing the conspiracy that had 
been planned against my person and purse ! Once or 
twice it occurred to me that my best mode of proceeding 
would be to turn brigand myself, to begin by calling on 
the party last mentioned to produce his said purse, and to 
divide the spoil amongst us, according to the laws of reg- 
ular highway honour ; but, on second thoughts, I was 
contented with giving myself notice of a motion to that 
effect, to be discussed on a future day. 

No more sunshine gilding the rocks that stood out from 
the bosom of the glen, it assumed every moment frowns 
of deeper horror, which almost made my blood run cold. 
We had hitherto been riding or walking on the southern 
side ; but our horses, still without their riders, turning sud- 
denly down to the bottom of the dark ravine, my compan- 
ions ran on rapidly before me, and disappeared through 
the shade. Had they faltered in their purpose, or left me 
to warn their associates of my approach? 

Everybody knows that the glen which we w T ere then 
traversing abounds in green marble of the most beautiful 
description. I consequently became a virtuosi, and a col- 
lector of specimens, with which I loaded my pockets and 
hands, not knowing how soon I might have occasion to 
turn the- said specimens to purposes appertaining more to 
the useful than the ornamental. My path was so distinctly 
marked over the polished marble that I could not mistake 
it, the more especially when I heard voices shouting below, 
towards which, labouring though I was under the strongest 
suspicions, I instinctively directed my steps. Judge of my 
surprise when I found four or five other equestrians drawn 
up at the other side of the torrent, while my guide, who was 
calling out to me with all his force, held my Rozinante, 
and bade me mount immediately. The moon, which had 
just risen, placed the whole party in her light, disclosing 
three figures fully accoutred, a woman on a mule with a 
baby in her arms, and an elderly-looking person wrapped 
in a cloak. That little pledge of peace, sleeping on her 
mothers bosom, restored my feelings at once to their na- 
tural channel. I crossed the torrent, joined the party, who 
gave me to understand that they also were bound for 
Epidaurus ; and as my late companion was nowhere to be 
found, I concluded that he had deemed it imprudent to 
track his intended prey any farther. 

The clacking of several mills turned by the mountain 
streams, announced to me the agreeable intelligence that 
40* 21 



242 GREEK SERVANT. 

we were not far from our destination for the night. The 
tidings were soon confirmed by the barking of many dogs. 
A few scattered houses, with lights gleaming from them, 
left the matter no longer doubtful, when my guide, trotting 
on towards the sea-side, delivered me and my luggage at a 
house, where the only symptoms of hostelry I beheld was 
a fire, near which stood an old coffee-pot, and a wooden 
platform hard by a stone wall, by way of a divan. Alas ! 
thought I, can this be Epidaurus ? 

I went out to see whether there was any vessel in the 
harbour bound for iEgina or the Piraeus, but I could dis- 
cover nothing of the kind. The water was so unruffled, 
that if I could have ferreted out a small boat, and prevailed 
on its owner to row me across the Saronic Gulf, I should 
have very much preferred spending the night at sea, rather 
than in the abominable hut to which my guide had con- 
signed me. But there was not so much as a cock-boat to 
be met with anywhere. 

My late companions had gone to take up their abode 
with some of their friends in the village, being also, as 1 
afterwards found, like myself, on their way to Athens. 
They could offer me no hospitality : but they very kindly 
sent a Greek servant, who spoke French, to attend me— 
and I must do him the justice to say, that a more oblig 
fellow, or a more persevering candidate for what he i 
ceivtd to be a vacant place in my travelling establishment, 
I have rarely encountered. He made capital coffee for me 
mixed up with eggs— bought or stole a pullet which he get 
boiled for me in'a few minutes — brushed my clothes- 
cleaned my boots — and saw me safely deposited on the 
divan upon a clean mat, and under the cover of a very 
decent counterpane of his own which he had placed at my 
service — and then removing the lamp to the fireplace, re- 
commending me to go forthwith to sleep, and bidding me 
good-night, went away, assuring me that he would return 
early in the morning. 

Mine host, who had hitherto been absent, made bis 
pearance soon afterwards, followed by two or three other 
guests who had just arrived from Napoli. After a slight 
supper upon cold fried fish and a little garlic, these per- 
sons, who appeared to be merchants, disposed of them- 
selves on another divan, which was prepared for their use, 
and I resigned myself, after the toils and apprehensions of 
the evening, to sleep, with a feeling of confidence which 
was not broken even by a dream until about seven o'clock, 
when I rose and bathed in the sea. 

The sun was already risen over ^i£gina, but not a sail 
was anywhere to be descried. It appeared that all the 



A SAIL. 243 

vessels belonging to Epidaurus had been detained by- 
calms on the Athenian side of the gulf for the last three 
or four days, and might be kept therefore another week, 
unless some friendly zephyrs should awake and waft them 
back to our shore. And then there was no small chance 
of the said zephyrs continuing to blow on in the same di- 
rection, so as to prevent our stirring, perhaps, for another 
week from the bay. Here was a delightful prospect for a 
man in a hurry ! Oh, how I wished for one of our steamers, 
when looking over that tranquil sea, unruffled by a breath 
of air, shining like a lake of molten gold in the morning 
sun ; the splendid highlands of the promontory of Methana 
on my right; ^Egina, like a cloud, in front; on the left, 
Salamis, scarcely visible even as a cloud ; the Parthenon 
just below my horizon ; I was nevertheless chained, as it 
were, to the rock on which I stood, incapable of leaving it 
behind me ! 

I pored on the waters at my feet until I could count the 
very pebbles at the bottom of the sea, and even distinguish 
all their various colours. It was, in fact, a Mosaic ground 
of the most beautiful description, strewed with pieces of 
marble, red, blue, green, purple, yellow, snow-white, black 
as Indian ink, the shades of each being brought out with 
peculiar brightness through the crystal waves in which they 
were set. 1 have no doubt that we owe to such a picture 
as I then beheld, the original idea of those inlays which the 
pure taste of antiquity multiplied everywhere on the floors, 
the walls, the roofs, not only of the temple and the forum, 
the courts of justice and the theatres, but also of the most 
ordinary private habitations. Here w T as indeed, — 

M A sapphire throne, inlaid with pure 
Amber; and the colour of the showery arch." 

The marbles were countless which shone through the 
transparent element. Nature, wiio never ceases to attract 
the human eye to her operations, even when decorating 
the most solitary recesses of her domain, seemed to have 
felt a delight in scattering around her those "patens" wor- 
thy of the "floor of heaven;" as if she especially wished to 
present a model for those works of art which have been 
carried by the genius of Greece and Italy to so high a de- 
gree of perfection. 

Ascending the mountain on my left, I discerned a single 
sail stealing closely round iEgina in order to profit of the 
land breezes, there being not a breath of air on the sea ; 
but just as it grew larger on my eye, and I could perceive 
the canvass fluttering, the head of the vessel being, as I 



244 ruins. 

thought, turned towards Epidaurus, it gradually faded 
away again, and disappeared towards Cape Co onna ! 
Another speck soon became apparent in the direction of 
Salamis, which I watched with unaverted gaze, until it as- 
sumed magnitude and form as it approached the small 
island of Cecryphalos, where it lay for some time motion- 
less. At length, the form became more distinct, but it was 
nearer to iEgina, and steering, as I apprehended, in the 
same course as the vessel which had just gone to the open 
sea. But I was happily wrong— I could perceive the wa- 
ters sparkling round the boat, which indicated that the oars 
were at work. There would have been no necessity for 
such labour if this vessel were bound in the same direction 
as the one that had just passed, and I therefore concluded 
that our harbour was her destination. I was satisfied on 
this point by an old sailor whom I met on the beach as I 
returned to my hotel for breakfast; and as my Greek, who 
was in attendance, added that the vessel would be in about 
noon, but could not expect a land-wind to bear her out 
again until night, my business was to kill the remainder of 
the long day in the best manner I could. 

Having already made acquaintance with the northern 
part of the shore, I bent my steps through some osier- 
marshes, and ascended a bold hill on the south, overlook- 
ing the sea, where I found myself in the midst of a vast 
pile of ruins, the greater part of which, however, was bu- 
ried beneath masses of wall thrown down, long rank grass, 
weeds, and brambles. This must have been the site of the 
magnificent temple of iEsculapius, to which Epidaurus 
owes its celebrity in ancient history. The stones used 
in the foundations appeared to me to be nearly as large 
as those which form the walls of Tiryntha, with this differ- 
ence, that the former are cut in regular squares, and are 
connected with each other by means of cement. They 
are much corroded by the winds and rains of many win- 
ters, but their artificial forms are manifest. 

From these ruins I wandertd along the rough rocks, 
until, climbing higher and higher, I reached the summit of 
a mountain, to the south of which the shore is suddenly 
withdrawn to a considerable distance in a western direc- 
tion, and in a horse-shoe form, but no longer rocky — the 
entire theatre rising gently from the water's^edge to a con- 
siderable height, which shut out all the world behind, being 
clothed with the richest verdure. It was an Arcadian 
scene. Sheep were browsing on the green declivities, at- 
tended by shepherdesses. Two or three remarkably neat 
cottages were in the valley, and near them groves of the 
olive-tree. The hill-sides exhibited clusters of flower* 



DIORAMA. 245 

from which a fragrance came on the undulations of the at- 
mosphere. Two or three brooks rambled down towards 
the sea, shining like veins of liquid silver ; and by one of 
these a group of maidens was actively engaged in washing 
linen, which they spread on the shrubs or the grass to dry. 
The shepherdesses, as usual, were occupied with their dis- 
taff and spindle ; a boy tending some goats was playing on 
a reed a wild song which I could not hear sufficiently to 
give any idea of; and some of the maidens at the stream, 
while their linen was drying, sang, or ran about, or bathed 
their feet, or combed their hair, which they afterwards tied 
up carefully, little thinking all the time that an Englishman 
was noting down their u simple annals," haply for the 
amusement of his own countrywomen. 

Here was a secluded, pastoral little world in itself, in- 
habited by a few fishermen, who, with all the male mem- 
bers of their families, were probably pursuing their la- 
bours higher up the gulf, while the females, in their own 
w T ay equally industrious, presented a picture of perfect 
happiness — to them the more perfect, because they were 
unconscious of being observed. I flattered myself that 
this fair scene had witnessed none of the horrors of the 
late revolution — that it was even exempted from the com- 
mon lot of Turkish oppression, and that, like the rescued 
Pompeii, it appeared exactly the same to me as it might 
have appeared to Homer in those days of his early inspi- 
rations, when he gathered from nature herself, and from 
actual acquaintance with the men and manners of his 
time, those inexhaustible materials which he afterwards 
imbodied in his divine poetry. 

Around and beneath me were some of the very promon- 
tories and islands which Nestor, and Agamemnon, and 
Meneiaus, are supposed to have visited or observed — the 
seas upon which they sailed, and above me the same 
cloudless skies which they admired. The veil of ancient 
years seemed drawn back from this spot ; it was a diora- 
ma through which I beheld the age of Ulysses, when the 
occupations of the prince or the princess scarcely differed 
from those of the goatherd or shepherdess as now pictured 
before me. Throughout Argolis, where I then stood, as 
well as Laconia, Messenia, Arcadia, Elis, and Achaia, and 
as far as Ithaca, which lay behind me, the manners of the 
princes and the people of those early days were marked 
by a beautiful simplicity, of which I was at that moment 
strongly reminded. 

21* 



246 BARGAINING. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Bargaining— Departure for Athens— Voyage— The Piraeus— Athens— Vandalism— 
The Parthenon— Its entablatures— IVIysterious fire— Curiosities— Athenian im- 
provements—Road to Corinth— Megara— Thunder storm— Isthmus of Corinth- 
Cutting the isthmus— Difficulties of the enterprise— Levels of the seas— Corinth 
— Change of climate — Vostizza. 

While I was rambling among the mountains, the ex- 
pected boat came in, and announced its departure again 
for Athens in the evening. The patron, however, as soon 
as he heard of my return, came to me, and expressed a 
wish at first that I should engage his vessel for myself 
alone, in which case he would sail immediately after sun- 
set, when a land-breeze usually springs up. This was a 
regular attempt at imposition upon an Englishman, which 
impressed me with the conviction that some of my coun- 
trymen who have travelled in Greece must have conduct- 
ed themselves as consummate coxcombs. Their high- 
nesses would not condescend, forsooth, to make a voyage 
from Epidaurus to the other side of the gulf, in a small 
packet, in which their precious persons were liable to be 
contaminated by the touch of a native Greek, or other pas- 
sengers bound for the same destination. My new ac- 
quaintance was clearly of opinion that it was beneath my 
national dignity to reject his offer, the more especially as 
he proposed to place his vessel at my service for the mod- 
erate sum of one hundred drachmas ! 

Even my Greek valet could not stand th»: he indignant- 
ly bade the fellow go away, but at the same time asked me 
how much I was inclined to give, he being himself on his 
route to Athens, and not at all indisposed to perform it free 
of expense. I said, what was perfectly true, that I had not 
the most remote intention of engaging the vessel for my 
own use, the more especially as several persons, to my 
knowledge, were waiting at Epidaurus to procure a pas- 
sage to the other side ; and that, moreover, far from feel- 
ing any disinclination to sail in company with a motley 
group of all sorts of travellers, it was the thing of all others 
I preferred. So far as I was concerned, the boat being 
open to the atmosphere, they might fill it mast high if they 
liked, and I would take my chance with the rest. ''How 
much are you to pay," I asked my kind adviser, "for your 
passage?" " Oh, sir," he replied, "I am but a very poor 
man — they will perhaps make me pay them two drachmas 
and a half." "And quite enough, too," I observed, '-for it 
is but a voyage of a few hours, and, for mv own part, I 
shall pay no more." 



VOYAGE. 217 

The first negotiation having failed, the patron had the 
impudence again to come to me, and inquired whether, at 
all events, I might not wish to engage the best part of his 
vessel for myself, which I might have for the reduced sum 
of thirty drachmas. I went to look at his boat in order to 
understand what he meant by the " best part." It was a 
common coaster, without any deck; the bottom was filled 
with small gravel for ballast; and upon this gravel, unless 
I had a mattress, which I had not, I was to take my seat 
wherever I chose ! I thanked him for his obliging offer, 
but gave him to understand that I had no ambition what- 
ever to distinguish myself in any way from his other pas- 
sengers, and that I would pay the ordinary fare, whatever 
that was, but not a lepta more. " Then," said he, angri- 
ly, " you shall not come into my boat." " Very well," I re- 
plied, "then you shall not sail to-night — at least not with- 
out me." Upon explaining the matter to the port-captain, 
who had to endorse my passport, he observed that I was 
quite right, and that he would not permit the vessel to leave 
the harbour, if such an attempt at extortion, of which he 
was quite ashamed, were persevered in on the part of the 
patron, whom he immediately sent for, and reproved ve- 
hemently as a disgrace to the kingdom ! My Greek, who 
was my dragoman throughout this proceeding, seemed 
very much astonished at this new revolution. So, then, 
he said, or rather seemed to say, Englishmen are to be 
openly plundered no more ! 

I went on board with my luggage about eight o'clock in 
the evening, and took my place on the gravel, sitting on 
my portmanteau. By-and-by came in a whole crowd of 
men, women, and children, including my acquaintances of 
the glen, with beds and mattresses, on which they settled 
themselves at once for sleep. We sailed at nine with a tol- 
erably good breeze, which, however, died away soon after. 
The night was balmy, and so clear that I never thought of 
sleep while contemplating the azure canopy of the sky, 
" thick inlaid with patens of bright gold," and feeling that 
the Parthenon would soon be within my view. According- 
ly, by the earliest gleam of the morning, while we w r ere 
passing ^Egina, I beheld that still glorious monument to 
the incarnate wisdom and genius of all antiquity. " If the 
progress of decay," said Mr. Hobhouse, "be as rapid as it 
has been for more than a century past, there will, in a few 
years, be not one marble standing upon another on the site 
of the Parthenon." I had expected to find this prophecy 
realized, as it was well knxrwn that the Turks, before they 
quitted the capital, had wantonly destroyed every remnant 
of its ancient lustre upon which they could lay their hands. 



248 



THE PIRJEUS. 



Most agreeable, therefore, was my surprise to find so vast 
a pile of columns still remaining, to attest the miracles of 
which architecture is capable, the true gods of Paganism 
being the men who could conceive, and imbody in a per- 
manent form, the ideas that, even to this hour, are breath- 
ing amid the sculptures of that mutilated temple. 

It was tantalizing to be obliged to row all the day, as not 
even a sigh of the atmosphere would come to our assist- 
ance. It was four o'clock in the afternoon before we en- 
tered the Piraeus, where we found a considerable degree of 
bustle prevailing. Several Greek vessels were in the har- 
bour ; a French man-of-war was in the roads ; and mer- 
chant ships, of some hundred tons burden, were either 
delivering or receiving cargoes in the most systematic 
order. Upwards of a hundred horses and camels were 
waiting on the beach for employment, the load to Athens, 
which is at the distance of about five miles from the Pirae- 
us, being as yet chiefly traversed by animals with all sorts 
of burdens on their backs, although it was by no means 
impassable for carriages. I lost no time in procuring 
horses ; and after riding for about an hour and a quarter 
through the olive grounds which interpose between Athens 
and the sea, where, by-the by, companies of the Bava- 
rian troops were encamped in wooden huts, being engaged 
in widening and re-constructing the road, I alighted at 
Casalrs hotel, and was immediately shown to an excellent 
chamber. 

A capital dinner and a bottle of genuine old Madeira 
compensated me for the privations of the morning; and 
after my bed of gravel, I found Casali's unobjectionable. 
But when I sallied forth the next day to explore the won- 
ders of Athens, alas! they were no longer to be seen. The 
once proud city of marble was literally a mass of ruins — 
the inglorious ruins of mud houses and wretched mosques, 
forming in all quarters such (indistinguishable piles, that in 
going about I was wholly unable to hx upon any peculiar- 
ities of streets or buildings by which I might know my way 
from one part of the capital to another." With the excep- 
tion of the remains of the Forum, the temple of Theseus, 
which is still in excellent preservation, the celebrated col- 
umns of the temple of Jupiter Olympus, and the Parthenon, 
nothing now exists at Athens of all the splendid edifices 
by which it was so profusely decorated in the days of its 
glory. 

I therefore devoted the whole day to the Acropolis, ex 
amining with a degree of admiration which every houi 
rendered more and more intense, the columns and capi 
tain, but above all the entablatures, which time had spared 



THE PARTHENON. 249 

or Vandalism had still left unviolated upon that sacred 
mountain. " Time had spared !" The phrase has no mean- 
ing here ; for it is the singular attribute of these skies of 
Attica to embalm in their own unchangeable purity every 
particular form or feature, even the slightest sprig, the 
most delicate flower, the most minute vein and curl of the 
leaf, the slightest smile of beauty, which the sculptor chooses 
to call into existence from the quarries of Pentelicus. The 
very heads that grace those columns are as round and as 
fresh at this moment as they were in the time of Pericles. 
A marble, which by some good fortune had been over- 
looked amongst the weeds by all the despoilers, was turned 
up a day or two before my visit, exhibiting a cantharus 
surrounded by a wreath of vine-leaves. The vessel stood 
out from the mass to which it was attached, and the wreath 
seemed as if it had just left the chisel of Phidias. In such 
a climate it is no poetical privilege to say, that the ama- 
ranths are immortal, rivalling those with which 

" the spirits elect 

Bind their resplendent locks." 

No ! it is to the human animal alone, to his impieties 
against the divinity of genius, to those insane passions 
which urge him to war against his own tribes, to the insa- 
tiable desire of indiscriminate devastation which sometimes 
actuates him, as if he were obeying the mandate of some 
evil spirit — or to what is still more debasing, the thirst of 
gold — rapine for the sake of restoring the shattered for- 
tunes of a titled pauper, or of transmuting the adventurer 
into a parvenue — to these, thou holy pile ! holy even after 
all the vices of our nature have done their worst upon thy 
fanes and altars, do we owe these prostrate columns, these 
fractured capitals, these loosened, mutilated entablatures, 
bearing witness alike to the despicable dust, as well as to 
the redeeming god, of which man is composed. 

Had the Parthenon remained perfect, it would have been 
the Iliad in marble — in Pentelican marble ; the polished, 
unchangeable, eloquent dialect of exalted conception — the 
living model of mind for all ages, which no age shall ever 
rival. Minerva, for whom the temple rose, was no fable. 
Her reputed wisdom, the terrors which her thunders cast 
upon the field of war, her preference for the olive, and 
those arts of prosperous peace of which it was the symbol ; 
the brilliant beauty of her presence when she started at 
once into existence, completely arrayed in panoply wrought 
by the immortal artist; her immediate admission into the 
assembly of the gods, her love for mankind, the peculiar 
41 



250 MYSTERIOUS FIRE. 

tutelar favour with which she looked upon Attica, her 
inflexible virtues, the matchless purity of her life, the pains 
which she took to teach kings how to cultivate the land, 
and the Argonauts the navigation of the seas, and the shep- 
herdess the charms of the lute ; her skill in embroidery, 
painting, poetry, and sculpture, and the exquisite perfection 
of taste which shone through all her w T orks, w 7 ere no more 
than the picture which the Parthenon itself displayed of 
transcendant genius in all the departments of thought and 
action upon which human intelligence, in its most inspired 
moods, can be exerted. 

Enough of that pile — which, under the care of an enlight- 
ened government, may now be looked upon, I hope, as im- 
perishable — still remains to animate the new generations 
of Greece with the grandeur of antiquity. The very at- 
mosphere of these ruins is favourable to the birth of noble 
aspirations. It is scarcely possible for any mind, open at 
all to improvement, to hold ineffectual converse with the 
figures that still live upon the entablatures, to mark the 
spirit impressed on their looks, the gracefulness with which 
they ride, or the power with which, standing on the earth, 
they rein back their proud horses, or the style in which 
they hold the pipe, or fling upon the air the triumphant 
sound of the Bacchanal drum, while dancing in procession 
to the temple, or returning from the fields of victory. 

A sentinel, who happened to be from the island of Ce- 
rigo, perceiving that I had lingered all the day among these 
ruins, suggested to me that I ought not to leave the Acrop- 
olis without examining what he and his comrades con- 
ceived to be the greatest curiosity of the place. He called 
one of the guards, and desired him to show 7 me the " mys- 
terious fire," as he called it. Upon quitting the porch of 
the temple, I turned under this man's guidance to the right, 
and descending a few steps tow r ards the guard-house, I 
reached a part of the foundations of the Parthenon, which 
are composed of large blocks of marble fitted together with- 
out any cement. Looking in between tw T o of these blocks, 
which w T ere separated from each other little more than the 
eighth of an inch, I distinctly saw in the interior of the 
wall a pale yellow light, resembling that of a taper in the 
daytime. 

At first I looked about to see whether this could be the 
result of a contrivance to procure a little fee for the benefit 
of the guard; but I could discover no ground whatever for 
any such suspicion. Neither was the sun then shining on 
that part of the Acropolis ; and the men assured me that 
the illumination w T as much stronger always during the 
night. I examined one or two other apertures in its im- 
10 



ROAD TO CORINTH. 251 

mediate neighbourhood, and observed a similar light, which 
they had not discovered before, and which raised their 
wonder in a way that convinced me, that they at least 
were quite unconscious of any fraud. There was no 
smoke or heat about the spot ; and the wall was of a thick- 
ness of at least from three to four feet, if not more. I 
concluded that the glow proceeded from some phosphoric 
substance or insect in the interior of the structure ; and 
had only to lament that it was not known to the priests of 
the Parthenon of old, as it would have then been handed 
down to us as the divinity of some oracle, or as a frag- 
ment of the vestal fire which was never to be extinguished. 

The site of the Areopagus ; of the levelled rock, where 
the orators usually harangued the people of Athens ; the 
place where the tribune stood ; the indentures in the preci- 
pice where the laws and acts of authority were inserted 
and promulgated; the cave said to have been the prison of 
Socrates ; the remarkable stone, still as slippery, and al- 
most as brilliant as ice, down which childless women are 
said to have made a practice of sliding, in former days, as 
a remedy for barrenness ; and some few other "lions" of 
a minor character, served to while away another morning. 
I flattered myself, moreover, that a long, narrow street, 
filled with shops of all sorts, which had escaped the de- 
stroying hand of the Turks, preserved an air of antiquity, 
and that the variety of objects which it displayed — such as 
fruits, grocery, wine, spirits, haberdashery, tailors, shoe- 
makers, smiths, winders and weavers of silk, manufac- 
turers of tassels and gold lace — might often have served to 
divert the intense thoughts of Demosthenes from the agita- 
tions of the forum ; of Euripides from the theatre; of Aris- 
tides from the calumny by which that just man was as- 
sailed on account of his virtues. But T should never have 
done day-dreaming, if I had remained longer at Athens ; 
and so having gone with Mr. Griffith over the handsome 
mansion, then nearly finished, for the British legation, vis- 
ited the new buildings which were going on in its neigh- 
bourhood, intended to be the " West End" of the capital ; 
observed the lines of new streets marked out amongst the 
ruins of Old Athens, and the very neat houses already 
completed in different parts of the new town, where the 
saw and the mallet were busy in every direction, I en- 
gaged a brace of horses, and behold me on the road to 
Corinth. 

The said road, by-the-by, was no road at all; nothing 
fciore than a bridle path among the hills, all-fragrant with 
that peculiar thyme which enables the bees of the neigh- 
bouring ranges of Hymettus to produce the most delicious 



252 THUNDER STORM. 

honey in the world, upon which said honey I feasted like a 
heathen god every morning. I slung a jar of it to my sad- 
dle-bow for a little stranger, who, I expected, would greet 
me on my arrival at home. The very rocks of Greece are 
redolent with some sort or another of vegetation, which 
can have no nutriment except from the atmosphere. Quit- 
ting the hills, we descended to the sea-shore by Salamis, 
and those gloried waters where the Persian hosts were 
overwhelmed by a handful of freemen; passed through the 
ruins of Eleusis : and stopped for the nis;ht at Lyssa in a 
sort of inn, where horses, mules, donkies, and men all 
slept, I may say, together under the same roof. The habi- 
table part of this stable was floored with clean planks, on 
which a hair-cloth was spread for me. The owner of the 
mansion gathered himself up in a corner ; several Greeks 
were strewed about in various directions ; and I, wrapped 
in my cloak, found even the plank and hair-cloth prefera- 
ble to a couch of gravel. 

About two o'clock in the morning, (13th November,) my 
guide summoned me to the field, when I gladly pursued with 
him our way to Megara. Sagittarius and his congregation of 
worlds shed a brilliant lustre over the sky, which scarcely be- 
gan to grow pale until we heard the cocks of the said Me- 
gara sounding their jocund horns. We soon after entered 
on the isthmus of Corinth, keeping still by the side of the 
sea; Salamis on our left; the sun rising over JEgma; Ne- 
gropont, a cloud in the distance; the Epidaurian moun- 
tains standing out like giants of air; the sea beneath us a 
lake of crystal ; the rocks over which we were wending, 
tossed into all sorts of jagged forms; here impeded by 
straggling roots of trees ; there by trees overthrown in some 
storm; now menaced with destruction by masses depend- 
ing over our heads ; now in danger, if our animals made a 
false step, of making no gentle transition from the preci- 

Eices above that beauteous mirror to the floors which shone 
eneath it, mosaiqued though they were all over by the 
hands of all the Nereids. 

But for these perils, against which we occasional!) 7 guard- 
ed by allowing the horses to seek their own fortunes, I was 
» sometimes compensated by following our course through 
patches of forest, still rich in foliage, through which vistas 
of the iEgean opened, such as no "pencil can ever imitate. 
Trees and islands, skies and water, may be represented ; 
and airy perspectives, shown through a break in an old 
wood, may be wrought by a master into a semblance of en- 
chantment; but here lived the enchantment itself, the ever- 
changing mystic lights and shades, which cannot be brought 
down from heaven; the memories of bright ages, of heroic 



THUNDER-STORM. 253 

deeds, of matchless poetry and eloquence, and of undying 
names, consecrated and preserved in one vast temple of 
glory, where fame always points her sceptre to the past. 

At noon the Acropolis of Corinth burst upon the scene, 
and in a few hours afterwards w T e were in the town, where 
I spent the night — and such a night ! — Heaven preserve us ! 
I never before heard such a storm of thunder, never beheld 
such lightning as raged for four or five hours without inter- 
ruption, round the rocks of that lofty citadel. Had it not 
served as a natural conductor of the electric fluid, I hardly 
know how the houses still remaining at its feet could have 
escaped destruction. The rain came down in deluges. 

When I ascended the mountain the next morning, I ques- 
tioned the Bavarian sentinels as to their feelings during 
the night, and they confessed that they had never known 
what a war of the elements was before, and that they had 
the strongest apprehensions about their powder magazine. 
But happily no accident occurred. The earth and the low- 
er hills all round were smoking with the vapours raised by 
the sun from the waters, with which they were saturated. 
Nevertheless, I beheld, even before I was half-way to the 
top, the iEgean and the gulf of Lepanto almost touching 
each other, and inviting the hand of commercial enterprise 
to complete the channel, which has been already partly ex- 
cavated, for uniting the two seas. 

I know of no measure which could be devised for the 
benefit of Greece, so well calculated to develop its natural 
riches, to excite a general spirit of industry amongst its 
people, and to ensure to that industry the most ample re- 
turns, as this project, no modern invention, for annihilating 
the Isthmus. A line of direct communication would thus 
be established, by which all those parts of Greece, sepa- 
rated from each other by the prolongation of the Morea, 
and by the difficulties attendant on the navigation round 
its capes, might be immediately united. Missolonghi and 
Lepanto, Patras, and even Gastuni, would thus be brought 
by steamboats within a few hours of the Piraeus. The gulf 
of Lepanto, where now scarcely a sail is seen, would be- 
come another Bosphorus, the highway for merchant ves- 
sels and steamers from the Ionian isles to Athens and the 
Cyclades. The whole coast of Albania would take an in- 
terest in the change, whose influence would extend to Na- 
ples, Ancona, and Venice, and, above all, to Trieste, now 
becoming a most important commercial station. 

Athens, which in a few months will be brought down to 

the shore by its railroad, would then become an emporium 

of exchange of the produce of the east for the produce and 

manufacture of the west. Corinth would be raised to a 

41* 



254 ISTHMUS OF CORINTH. 

degree of splendour which it had never known before. 
The stagnant waters of Lepanto would be roused from 
their lethargy : the shores on either side, so dangerous to 
health in the summer and autumn, from the quantity of 
rank vegetation with which they teem, would be ploughed 
up and cultivated — the Greek tertians and agues would dis- 
appear — population would rapidly increase, and the cotton 
and currants, wheat and oil, which may be grown in any 
part of the Morea, or of western Greece, where the rocks 
are not literally as bare of earth as rock can be, would en- 
sure to the agriculturist, and the merchant, and the ship- 
owner, constant employment of the most advantageous de- 
scription. 

I apprehend that the real width of that portion of the 
Isthmus which still remains to be excavated, does not much 
exceed four English miles. Two of these miles traverse a 
mere plain on the western side of the Isthmus, where a ca- 
nal has been already cut by the ancients, about eighty feet 
deep and three hundred feet wide. The mouth of this ca- 
nal is at present closed up with sands from the gulf of Le- 
panto; these sands might be easily removed, and the re- 
mainder of the excavation, which is still visible to the ex- 
tent of about six hundred feet, might be rendered available 
as far as it goes. The only great difficulties of the enter- 
prise would be found in the rocky ridges which extend 
from Megara to the Acrocorinthus, the summits of which 
are about two hundred feet above the level of the sea. Half 
the number of men now employed on the banks of the Dan- 
ube, w 7 ould, within the space of two or three years, form a 
tunnel through these rocks, by the process of blasting, suf- 
ficiently deep for vessels of any size to be towed through 
the canal by steamers. The ancients, without our auxili- 
aries of steam or powder, actually penetrated these preci- 
pices under the superintendence of Nero ; although after 
his departure the works were abandoned. Beyond the 
rocks there is a remarkable ravine, which might be easily 
enlarged, and which extends as far as the Saronic gulf. 

Some persons have imagined that even if these difficul- 
ties were conquered, there w r ould be still the insuperable 
inconvenience arising from what is really no more than a 
supposition, that the sea on the eastern side is higher than 
the sea in the gulf of Lepanto. If the fact were so. the wa- 
ters, if all obstruction were removed, would soon tind their 
own level. Or, if an elevation did exist on the eastern side, 
and from any circumstance it were likely to be permanent, 
it might, if excessive, be corrected by a series of locks ; if 
not excessive, it would have the effect only of producing a 
strong current down the gulf of Lepanto, and consequent- 



CORINTH, 255 

xy of keeping the canal clear of the sands which have been 
hitherto accumulating at the head of that gulf. I have been 
informed that the whole expense of such an enterprise as 
this, would not much exceed half a million sterling; and it 
would seem reasonable to calculate the returns on the capi- 
tal, after the completion of the works, at not less than from 
ten to fifteen per cent. 

The celebrated ancient columns, each formed of one 
block of stone, which every traveller has noticed, are in 
Corinth, with the exception of the Acrocorinthus, the only 
objects worth attention in the way of "lionising." The 
town is nearly as shapeless a mass of ruins as Athens itself 
But even here the "restoration" of Greece was beginning 
to exhibit itself in the construction of several new houses, 
which are built in a plain, substantial style. 

The road from Corinth to Patras lies principally along 
the southern coast of the gulf, and in spring or early sum- 
mer must be delightful, ar it passes over declivities thickly 
wooded with flowering shrubs. Even the shingle has its 
clusters of bulbous roots, which, when the stems are out, 
and hung with their hyacinths, tulips, jonquils, and lilies, 
must give the country an appearance of gayety unknown 
to our climate. We had rain and dense clouds constantly 
almost the whole way to Vostizza, which were the more 
remarkable, as the mountains on the opposite shore ap- 
peared at the same time to revel in the enjoyment of sun- 
shine all day, and of a serene sky at night. I forget who 
it was of my predecessors that made the same remark : but 
I can bear witness to its truth. The traveller proceeding 
from Attica is at once sensible of a very striking difference 
between the temperature of the air in the Morea, and that 
which he had just left beyond the Isthmus. 

Vostizza has been for some years, even before the ter- 
mination of the revolution, a highly improving town. It is 
built on the site of the ancient iEgium, where the states of 
Achaia were accustomed to hold their general council. 
Being the principal, as well as the most central emporium 
for the collection of the currants which are cultivated in 
the Morea, and which, indeed, have derived their name 
from Corinth, where the trade was originally established, 
it exhibits a degree of activity and an appearance of wealth 
not yet known in any other part of Greece, with the excep- 
tion of Napoli and Patras. It stands considerably elevated 
above the sea, to which there is a descent from the town 
through what appears to be a natural tunnel, although art 
must have had something to do with the excavation itselfj 
as well as with the steps which are formed in the rock. 

A beautiful merchant-brig, belonging to the London house 



256 vostizza. 

of Loury and Clarke, was in the bay. waiting for a cargo 
of currants; I looked upon the vessel with no small pride, 
observing the superior appearance of structure, equipment, 
and of order, which it displayed, in comparison with the 
crazy, lubberly sloops and cutters by which it was sur- 
rounded. The superintendent, an intelligent Frenchman, 
civilly showed me over the storehouse, where the currants 
were packed in casks. The trade seemed to afford employ- 
ment to several coopers. As the produce is brought in 
from the country, it is paid for in hard dollars; but Eng- 
lish goods are at the same time taken out, which are pur- 
chased by the shopkeepers of the town, and paid for in the 
same kind of money; and although 1 believe the balance 
of export and import is not as yet in favour of Vostizza, 
there is no reason to doubt that regenerated Greece has 
only to grow a little richer, in order to be enabled to culti- 
vate her soil more extensively, and thus become a very 
considerable consumer of our manufactures. 

There are many handsome private houses at Vostizza, 
with gardens behind them, full of the most beautiful of all 
trees — those that yield the lemon and the orange. The 
fruit being never absent from the foliage in this mild cli- 
mate — for the town seems to have a " pocket-climate" of 
its own, as compared with other parts of the Morea ; the 
deep yellow of the mature lemon or orange forming so 
agreeable a contrast with the green leaf, and the fruit not 
yet ripe exhibiting the progressive shades from the olive to 
the gold, these trees realize the vision of the poets, who tell 
Us of regions where the spring never fails to bloom. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Great plane-tree— Natural curiosity— Road to Patras— Police— Travelling compan- 
ions—Motives of travel — Differences of opinion— Discussions— Settlement of 
accounts— Patras— Delay— The Europa— A Caffine"— Parnassus— Storm— Greek 
marriage— Luxurious dog— Temple of Ceres— Bay of Patras— Ants. 

There is at Vostizza a remarkably large plane tree, 
which has the reputation, I cannot say how justly, of being 
at least two thousand years old. It is certainly very old, 
and the finest specimen of vegetation that ever came under 
my notice. A cord drawn round the trunk would measure 
atthe least thirty feet. Its branches are individually as large 
as an ordinary tree ; they rise to a great height, and extend 
their arms to such a distance in the air, that one easily be- 



NATURAL CURIOSITY. 257 

lieves the tradition of numerous armies having frequently 
encamped beneath its " broad umbrage." The trunk is hol- 
low, and so capacious that during the vicissitudes of the 
revolution, it was often used as a state prison for the con- 
finement of prisoners of distinction. A family of five or 
six persons might live in it without inconvenience. The 
authorities of the town have, with laudable public spirit, 
built a solid platform around the trunk, to preserve from 
further violation an object which they look upon as the 
principal ornament of their town. 

Wandering by the sea-shore to pick up shells and peb- 
bles, if any I could find worth preservation, I lighted on a 
curious transparent marine substance, to which a fragment 
of the scales of some fish is attached. It is nearly square, 
somewhat larger than the palm of the hand, of unequal 
thickness, varying from a quarter to less than the eighth 
of an inch, of a chocolate colour on the s4de to which the 
pearly scales are attached, and of a limy appearance on the 
other. It is not a shell — it has much more the appearance of 
a petrifaction, but, at the same time, is nearly as clear as 
amber. A sprig of sea-weed is spread between the scales 
and the formation, which is pierced on the opposite side 
by several small holes, like the mite-hoies in a cheese. A 
second sprig, spread out in a very graceful manner, is seen 
in the interior of another part of the substance, which is 
also corroded on the limy side, as if the object were to 
admit light for the display of the branches and leaves of 
the vegetable prisoner. 

But I have still to describe the most surprising charac- 
teristics of this marine formation. When held up against 
a good light, in one angle, two human skeleton heads ap- 
pertaining to one body are to be seen, and a philosopher 
appears to be examining them. At the opposite angle the 
greater part of the figure of a donkey is plainly discerni- 
ble ; the head, the pricked-up ears, the eyes, the mouth, the 
nose, the neck, the fore-legs, and a considerable portion of 
the body and one of the hind-legs, are as clearly defined 
within the substance by the hand of nature, as if they had 
been delineated by an artist. A sack, apparently filled, is 
on the donkey's back, and a man with a turban on his 
head is as distinctly seen walking by his side, with his left 
hand resting on the back of the animal, who looks the pa- 
tient, drudging creature of earth to the very life. Towards 
the centre, the head of an ox presents itself peeping over 
the scales, as we sometimes see a cow, anxious to get to 
its young one, looking over a gate. This transparency, or 
whatever the conchologists or mineralogists may choose 
to pall it, is in my possession, and I shall be happy to show 

22* 



258 ROAD TO PATRA9. 

it to any known scientific gentleman who may wish to in- 
spect it. When I first picked it up on the shingle of Vos- 
tizza, it was a little below the surface of the water. It 
attracted my notice from the pearly scales which were at- 
tached to it; but the moment I held it up against the sun, 
the figure of the donkey and its driver were so manifest, 
that I congratulated myself on having thus accidentally 
found, perhaps, one of the most unique productions of na- 
ture in existence. 

The road from Vostizza to Patras is much the same in 
character as the greater part of that from Corinth to Vos- 
tizza — frequent ascents to considerable heights amongst 
rocky hills thickly wooded with the most splend id shrubs, and 
sudden descents, which always appeared to me so perilous, 
that I allowed my horse to find his own way down. I walk- 
ing behind him. The path was so narrow, that the danger 
was thus considerably increased, and 1 often wondered at 
the carelessness of my guide in pursuing his "unmolested 
solitary way" far in the rear, on the top of my luggnge, 
singing his melancholy Greek songs as quietly as if he 
were riding on a level pasture. For my own part, I enjoy- 
ed the scenery so much — the ever-changing aspect of the 
hills over which our course led ; the variety of the shrubs, 
the largest, the richest in flower and fruit and foliage I had 
ever beheld; the sea, whose weedy fragrance, unceasing 
murmur, and undulating waters, are never unwelcome to 
my heart; Parnassus, and its towering summits, on the 
other side, the abode of the Muses, the parent of the fount 
of Castaly — that I should have experienced no fatigue had I 
been obliged to walk the whole way. 

Nor was it a disagreeable reflection to feel, that however 
favourable in times of disturbance, and during the days of 
Turkish oppression, these wooded hills and mountains and 
stinted pathways were to the habits of the brigand, I had 
no longer reason to be under apprehension in that respect. 
We were challenged almost every two hours by patrols, 
who were remarkably attentive to their duties." and not 
only civil, but respectful in the performance of them. This 
sense of security doubles the pleasure of a traveller pur- 
suing his route, as I then w 7 as, unarmed, I may say alone — 
loneliness amidst such scenery being absolutely essential 
to the indulgence of those reveries, idle though they be for 
the moment, which I would not exchange for all the splen- 
dours of a court. 

Before I set out on my journey originally, at Paris, at 
Vienna, Constantinople, arid Napoli, several' propositi* 
were made to me by Englishmen, whose acquaintance I 
chanced to make— -men highly accomplished, and in every 



TRAVELLING COMPANIONS. 259 

way worthy of my respect, with a view of my joining or 
being joined by them during such portions of my tour as 
might coincide with the views of both parties. These 
propositions I uniformly evaded as civilly as I could. In 
a public diligence, a steam-packet, a hotel, or during my 
temporary residence in a town, I was always happy to 
meet my countrymen ; for no travellers are more courte- 
ous towards each other abroad, none more frank in their 
intercourse, and few better informed than the well-educa- 
ted English ramblers, who may be encountered in every 
part of the continent. Many such men it was my good 
fortune to fall in with ; and although, from a sense of deli- 
cacy, I have not always mentioned their names, they will, 
I am confident, do me the justice to believe, that I have 
not forgotten the attentions which I experienced at their 
hands. My time being much more limited than theirs, they 
frequently had it in their power to give me information, 
which saved the trouble of inquiry and the risk of delay ; 
and on such occasions the assistance which they gave me 
was really invaluable. 

But for some reason or another, which I cannot analyze 
in my own mind, I have an invincible objection to compan- 
ionship in travelling. Had circumstances permitted any 
member of my own family to be with me, I should have been 
delighted to have availed myself of them ; but that was a 
pleasure which I could not have enjoyed, and, debarred of 
it, I found my best refuge in loneliness. 

Besides, I had more than once an opportunity of observ- 
ing how seldom it happened that the tastes of two or more 
travelling companions completely agreed. When men 
happen to bind themselves by any engagements, whether 
implied or formally expressed, to go on together for any 
distance in foreign countries, it is wonderful how soon all 
the guards of ordinary courtesy are put aside, and they be- 
come entirely dependent on the temper, the dispositions, 
and the natural characters of each other for their respective 
comforts. One would turn off the high road to any distance, 
to explore the smallest fragment of a ruin. When his 
friend indulges him in his fancy, and sees, as he would see, 
for instance, at Thebes in Boeotia, only a few stones, and 
then asks, " Is this all ?" it is manifest that they can travel 
no longer together with the slightest sense of pleasure. 
Thebes, though, like Marathon, it has nothing to show, is 
full of interest for minds of a peculiar order; while there 
are others, equally well cultivated, equally powerful, and, 
perhaps, more useful in their way, in which even the Par- 
thenon would excite no kind of emotion. 

Again, some men travel for the mere purpose of doing 



260 DIFFERENCES OF OPINION. 

that which others have done; of being able to say, when 
they return to England, that they had seen every thing 
which was to be seen; that they had lived so long at 
Athens, so long at Venice, so long at Rome, and had made 
the tour of Sicily, or Egypt, or visited Palmyra; and all 
this they shall have accomplished, thinking of nothing, 
dreaming of nothing during the whole period of their tour, 
except the comforts which they had abandoned at home, 
and the annoyances which they experience at every step 
they take abroad. Defend me from such men as these! 

Again, of two travelling companions, "dear friends," 
one is a perfect exquisite in every department of his equip- 
ment. He carries his own bed and kitchen with him; his 
servant is a " non-such," and his tour is that of a mere sy- 
barite. He has his apparatus for making coffee in his car- 
riage ; his spirits-of-wine, to produce a flame; his Lucifer 
matches, tapers, and all sorts of things, including concen- 
trated soups in tin cases; genuine tea from Cheapside; 
cigars from Cuba; air-cushions for his seat; air-cushions 
to support his back ; fur boots, and a silver-mounted bottle 
of brandy. His companion is of kindred dispositions; but 
the single equipment does for both. If. by some mistake, 
the coffee-pot is left behind at one place ; the spirits-of-wine 
bottle be broken at another; the "real Havannas" be 
stolen; the Lucifer matches cease to give a light when ap- 
plied to; the soups turn sour, or a nail make a rent in the 
air-cushions — it is all over with them ; they may as well 
go back at once, for it is only yaioi and "God damn!" 
all the rest of the journey ! 

One man is the model of precision: his breakfast is or- 
dered to a second ; he cannot wait dinner for anybody 
beyond three minutes ; the horses are put to the travelling 
carriage, the step of which he ascends at a stated moment, 
his time-piece in his hand. His companion, never very 
regular in his habits, becomes quite a sloven the moment 
an attempt is made to reduce his movements to any thing 
like system ; that is a restraint to which he has been un- 
accustomed, and to which he will not submit. Accordingly. 
when he arrives at the breakfast-table, the tea is "coldp 
a fresh quantity is put in ; that is, M waste," which, if he had 
got up just "ten minutes" sooner, might have been saved; 
and "genuine tea" is not to be had out o^ England! 
"When shall we dine to-day? Now say. for once", your 
own time, and keep to it ; that is all I require." — M Well, let 
me see; five o'clock." — "Too soon. We shall hardly be 
back from the churches we engaged to visit by that time." 
— " Then say six." — "Six! Oh I have a private engage- 
ment at six." — "Private! I thought we were companions 









SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. 261 

in all engagements." — "But this is a particular engage- 
ment; old friends, whom I met yesterday, and to whom, 
perhaps, I may have permission to introduce you on 
another occasion, but not now." — " Hem ! then, perhaps, you 
will dine with them ; that is what you would prefer to do ?" 
— " Oh dear, no ! not at all ; such a notion never entered 
my head."— "Then, will half-past seven do?"— "By that 
you mean a quarter to eight." — "Very well, be it so; a 
quarter to eight." — "You will be punctual to the fifteenth 
minute." — " To the second." 

The day is worn off; the churches are passed through ; 
the private engagement separates the friends, to the cha- 
grin of one, the secret delight of the other. But chagrin 
will have its revenge. The deserted companion knows 
not what to do; the evening hangs heavy on his hands; 
a play-bill attracts his attention in a shop window; he steps 
into a restaurateur 's, takes his dinner, bolts into the thea- 
tre ; gets to bed about twelve o'clock, very well knowing 
that his friend, who of all things abhors dining alone, is 
destined to pass the whole night in a fever, which however 
he deserves for his "private engagement!" The next 
morning there is a scene, which ends in the settlement of 
all accounts, and the " companions" scarcely know each 
other at the next evening or dinner party wiiere they may 
chance to meet ! 

" " Blest be the day I 'scaped the wrangling crew !" 

11 But hail, ye mighty masters of the lay, 

Nature's true sons, the friends of man ana truth ! 

Whose songs sublimely sweet, serenely gay, 

Amused my childhood, and informed my youth. 

O let your spirit still niv bosom soothe, 

Inspire my dreams, and my wild wanderings guide ; 

Your voice each rugged path of life can smooth, 

For well I know, wherever ye reside, 

There harmony and peace and innocence abide, 

ri Hail ! who the melodies of morn can tell ! 

The wild brook bubbling down the mountain side : 

The lowing herd ; the sheeofold's simple bell ; 

The pine of early shepherd dim descried 

In the lone valley ; echoing far and wide 

The clamorous horn along the cliffs above ; 

The hollow murmur of the ocean- tide ; 

The hum of bees ; the linnet's lay of love; 

And the full choir that wakes the universal grove. 

On arriving at Patras, (16th November,) I visited Mr\ 
Growe, our consul, to whom I had a note of introduction 
from Mr. Dawkins, and to whom, as well as to his very 
amiable family, I am indebted for much kindness during 
my protracted stay at that place. I soon learned that I 



262 DELAY. 

had little chance of quitting Patras for a week ; that the 
English steamboat from Malta, which usually touched at 
that port on its way to Corfu, was not likely to make its 
appearance until the 23d; that the Austrian sailing packet, 
which plies regularly between Patras, Corfu, and Trieste, 
was not yet come in, though hourly expected ; and that 
even if I were in Corfu at that moment, I had no chance 
of overtaking the island steamer for Ancona, as it only 
went once a month, and it had gone the day before ! 

Having been hitherto so fortunate throughout my jour- 
ney, I could afford to submit to a disappointment or two 
very well, and so, having no reason to grumble against 
my hotel, the u Europa," except that now and then, while 
sitting in my room, I had reason to lament the loss of my 
umbrella, as the roof had the Therapian complaint in rainy 
weather, I bethought me after what fashion I could best 
occupy my time. The vice-consul, Mr. Robinson, who 
happened to be with Mr. Crowe when I presented my let- 
ter, offered me his best services, and took a special in- 
terest in supplying me from his store of books, as well as 
from his personal experience, with ample materials for 
forming my opinions with respect to the actual condition 
and future prospects of Greece. These opinions I have 
already sufficiently detailed ; and though they differ in 
some degree from the views which his own active and vig- 
orous mind had led that gentleman to form, I am sure he 
will admit that we both wish to arrive at the same object, 
though we would pursue different routes towards its at- 
tainment. 

How could I have written that I had no reason to "grum- 
ble" against the "Europa?" Alas! I had abundant 
grounds for vexation of spirit the first day or two. at all 
events; for the mind, happily, soon acquiesces in any state 
of things which seems immutable. My chamber was over 
a cqffinc. and the floor having no ceiling beneath it every 
word spoken below, every jingle of every cup and every 
glass, every clash of the billiard players, came to me with 
a sharpness which soon formed a melancholy contrast in 
my ear with 

"The wild brook bubbling down the mountain side !*' 

A large knot had given way in one of my boards, which 
tended not a little, together with their open joints, to facil- 
tate the ascent of the~hubbub that was going on perpetual- 
ly below, where billiards, cards, coffee, wine, incessant 
chatter in all corners of the shop, In whatever mode the 
groups were otherwise employed, seemed to be the order 



A CAFFINE. 263 

of the whole live-long day, from daybreak to ten or eleven 
o'clock at night. I had heard and read much of the elo- 
quence of the Greeks — but no description can do it justice, 
so far as volubility, the quantity of words emitted within a 
given space of time, the loudness of intonation, the violence 
of gesticulation, and its power of irresistible perturbation 
of all ideas in the mind of a disinterested and uncompre- 
hending auditor, are concerned. 

My first sensation was astonishment that the caffine 
could thus be filled at so early an hour in the morning, 
that it could remain filled all the day, and that so many 
talkers could have been found at Patras. But I satisfied 
myself by occasionally spying at my friends through the 
knot-hole, that the possession of a table was deemed a to- 
ken of peculiar good fortune here; that therefore it was 
seized as early as possible, and not relinquished except 
upon condition of regular succession during the remaining 
hours of the day. Cards were in every hand not employed 
at billiards; wine was before everybody not pre-engaged 
to coffee ; but the employment of the tongue was every- 
where terribly harmonious. No murder was done, much 
to my surprise, though everybody seemed to be at war 
with his neighbour. 

This sort of amusement passed on for a day or two, and 
as I could not conquer the noise it produced, I was resolved 
to treat it as an element — as the roar of the sea, which it 
often resembled ; and I thus contrived to get on so well, 
that it ceased to divert my attention from other matters. 
It commenced and ended at certain hours, and as it was 
uninterrupted, I thought no more of ;t than of any other 
kind of tempest. One night ? how r ever, I had a touch of 
rheumatism in the knee, w T hich I had caught among the 
damp and showery woods of the shore of the Lepanto ; it 
kept me in torture during the early part of the night, but 
at length I went off to sleep until about three o'clock, a. m., 
when I was almost shaken out of my bed by one of those 
furious thunder storms which frequent the mountains of 
Greece, and which do, in fact, impress the mind with a feel- 
ing that war has broken out in the heavens, and that the 
gods are absolutely hurling their arsenals of artillery and 
fire against each other with an anger altogether above the 
reach of human conception. 

The ranges of Parnassus may be said, whatever local 
names they bear, to extend into Albania, along the whole 
of the gulf of Lepanto. The mountains of which they are 
composed have the wildest shapes, and seem fond of play- 
ing at magic not only with the lights of the sun, the clouds 
that intercept those lights, the nocturnal vapours and their 



264 storm. 

own fantastic shadows, but also with the lightnings and the 
hallooing of the thunders that follow them, as if spirits 
were chasing monsters of evil from precipice to precipice. 
I beheld from my window the indifference with which those 
huge masses sometimes bared their bosoms to the flashes, 
folded again their shrouds around them, re-echod the thun- 
ders as if in mockery, and detained the illumination round 
their heads, as if to proclaim that they too were worthy 
of the crowns of the immortals. 

But all passed away like a vision of the fevered sleeper ; 
the skies were wrapped in darkness, and the rain came 
down with a soothing fall, when I returned to bed, hoping 
that I had still some hours of good rest before me. Sea r 
ly had I closed my eyes when another tremendous uproar 
suddenly broke forth, but accompanied by the sounds of 
guitars and tabours, the stamping of feet, with shouts at in- 
tervals, and then a chorus of wild song in which the 
dancers, breathless from exertion, still endeavoured to 
join. No words were spoken; and far a while, before I 
shook off slumber, I imagined that I must have been trans- 
ported to the interior halls of the opposite mountains to 
witness the triumph of the hunters of the night, exulting 
round the horrid game they had captured. 

As the day broke apace, the crowds of dancers, sir.. 
and musicians, increased : and then, when the plague of 
sounds had reached its paroxysm, the random clouds of 
the late storm discharged their lightnings, while the mur- 
murs of the distant and dying thunders formed a contin- 
ued bass to the music. The moon looked out now and 
then from her curtains in the sky — like the first dove that 
was commissioned to see if the waters had subsided. The 
sea was tranquil, and a Greek corvette of war anchored 
in the harbour, several fishing-boats spreading their sa 
and a few caiques already showing signs of activity, re- 
flected now 7 the pale light of that serene orb, now the red 
flash from the mountains. All sounds at length declined 
into perfect stillness, and I awoke no more until the sun 
was in full career, midway up the arch of the heavens. 

When breakfast made its appearance. I inquired from 
my gargon the cause of all the hubbub which 1 had heard 
at so early an hour of the morning, which he explained by 
saying that a wedding had just taken place: that the par- 
ties had met in the caffine below, before going to the church ; 
and that, in conformity with the ancient custom of Greece. 
the ceremony had commenced with dancing and the hy- 
meneal song; after which, the bride and bridegroom, the 
members and friends of their families, went in "procession 
to the sanctuary, where the pair were united. Though so 












TEMPLE OF CERES. 265 

rudely disturbed by their proceedings, I must say that I 
freely forgave the offenders, as they had thus given me a 
decided proof of their attachment to the venerable prac- 
tices of their ancestors. 

While I was sitting at my window, looking at the moun- 
tains opposite, which, after the rains and storms of the 
night, appeared like so many sketches in Indian ink upon 
a less dark ground of mist behind them, I could not help 
laughing at an independent sort of Italian hound, who 
walked about as if upon his own affairs, wrapped in a 
handsome cloak of goat-skin, turned inside out, with a reg- 
ular cape to it. He seemed quite at home in his mantle or 
state, and passed by all other dogs with an air of that sort 
of high indifference, that would not condescend even to 
despise the inferior curs of the street. 

Gordon's admirable history of the Greek revolution, 
Leake's elaborate tour through the Morea, and Pausanias, 
served to occupy me usefully during the four or five first 
days after my arrival at Patras — days of almost incessant 
rain in the morning, then an hour or two of sunshine, and 
then rain again, sans intermission, the whole evening. 
When the weather permitted, I joined Mrs. Crowe's family 
circle, which was also the rendezvous of the Austrian and 
French consuls, Zuccoli and Dervoize, both agreeable, in- 
telligent men. The nights being cold, we found a New- 
castle coal fire no disagreeable appendage to a cup of ex- 
cellent tea. 

As soon as the days again became settled, I explored the 
curiosities of the neighbourhood, amongst which the ancient 
church of St. Andrew stands most conspicuous. The floor 
of the celebrated temple of Ceres, near which the church 
was erected, still preserves its beautiful mosaique orna- 
ments ; and a little to the west of both, I descended to the 
well mentioned by Pausanias, to which the same number 
of marble steps conducted me, which that excellent topog- 
rapher counted when he visited the fountain. The water 
is most delicious. I drank a full glass of it, in honour of 
the genius of the place. 

On the 21st of November, the Austrian packet from 
Trieste came in, having been detained nearly a fortnight 
beyond its time by contrary winds. It was announced 
for departure again the following evening, on its way to 
Corfu; but as the steamer was expected every hour from 
Malta, I deferred engaging my passage until the last mo- 
ment. I spent the whole morning in the castle of Patras, a 
sort of Acropolis, which commanded a very extensive 
view, under the hope that I might succeed in discovering 
the smoke of the steamboat. From the watch-tower of 
42* 



266 ANTS. 

the castle the prospect is remarkably fine, comprehending 
the well-known bicipital summits of Parnassus, which were 
just covered with the first snows of the year, towering in 
the northeast beyond its lesser ranges, the noble bay of 
Patras, which seemed a vast lake, almost wholly sur- 
rounded by mountains, and in the western distance the 
blue heights of Cephalonia. I flattered myself once or 
twice that I discerned the smoke of the steamer floating on 
the very verge of the horizon, but I was deceived. 

I visited the ruins of an ancient aqueduct, which still re- 
main in good preservation, at a short distance from the 
castle. Being well mantled in ivy and other creeping plants, 
they looked picturesque. From these ruins, I ascended 
the neighbouring hills, amongst which I found the plough 
actively engaged. I made acquaintance also with two or 
three colonies of ants, who were extremely busy returning 
to their respective subterraneous cities, each having in his 
mouth a small circular leaf of some grass or weed, in the 
centre of which a little seed was fixed. Whole armies 
were following each other in single file, burdened in this 
manner. When the industrious insect arrived at the little 
aperture that led to his world below, down he ran, as fast 
as he could, sometimes tumbling head over heels on the 
way. I purposely narrowed, with the end of my cane, the 
gate of their citadel, and it was wonderful what a congre- 
gation of candidates for admission this interruption caused 
in a moment. What a noise ! what fretfulness ! what con- 
fusion ! and yet, though the aperture for ascent was hard 
by, none of these experienced wagoners would attempt that 
route, knowing that they would thus meet the ascending 
armies, bent on a similar mission, and that they would thus 
violate one of the most sacred laws for the economy of time 
and labour known to their ancient nation. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Austrian Packet— Living on board— Ionian Isles— Corfu — Situation of Corfu— A 
day late— Lord Nugent — Garrison Library — Newspapers— A character— A mis- 
sion— Voyage— Atmospheric delusion— Rag usa — Contrary winds— Water-spout. 

The steamboat having failed to make her appearance, 
1 engaged my passage to Corfu on board the Austrian 
packet Vigilante. (Captain Melchiori,) a very handsome 
frigate, pierced lor ten guns, extremely well fitted out in 
every respect. I went on board at night on the 22d, and 



AUSTRIAN PACKET. 267 

the wind being right against us, we were unable to get un- 
der way until about three o'clock the following morning, 
when we began to tack out of the gulf. The operation was 
a very slow one, as there was then scarcely any wind 
around us. We lingered the whole day within sight of 
Patras, and approached so near to Missolonghi that we 
could see the people walking on its beach. The day was 
splendid. In the evening a veil of gossamer mist was sus- 
pended before the face of the hills on the southern shore; 
and the edge of the cloud being denser than the rest, had 
all the appearance of a riband to tie it round the brow for 
which it was destined. I was the only passenger on board. 
The captain had been in the naval service of the emperor 
for forty years; and he was assisted in his duties by a first 
and second lieutenant, both active and intelligent men, who 
relieved each other on deck every four hours throughout 
the whole of the voyage. The attention of these gentlemen 
to their duties, and the perfect order that reigned on board, 
might bear a comparison with any similar establishment 
in which even our own naval officers occasionally find em- 
ployment. 

Our mode of living was this — and as it was seldom devi- 
ated from, except that the dishes were occasionally varied, 
the description of one day will do for all. — At half-past eight 
o'clock in the morning, coffee was served in small cups, 
with a piece of biscuit, or a crust of bread. The coffee we 
took wherever we happened to be at that time, on deck, or 
in bed, or making our toilet. At nine the table was pre- 
pared for breakfast in the officers' cabin, where also our 
berths (very comfortable berths too) were arranged, with 
half-latticed doors, that shut them in. Breakfast usually con- 
sisted of biscuits, fried eggs, (there being plenty of poultry 
on board,) broiled liver, slices of uncooked ham, cheese, 
walnuts, and raisins, and red Santa Maura wine. We 
dined at three o'clock, usually beginning with rice or mac- 
caroni, or vermicelli soup, zested by Parmesan cheese. 
Then came bouilli with beet-root, roast beef, roast or stew- 
ed fowl, with celery tops or some other green vegetable by 
way of salad ; then cheese, walnuts and raisins, and ap- 
ples; sometimes a glass of liqueur, and coffee. Our wine 
was usually that of Santa Maura, and by no means objec- 
tionable. 

The biscuits were the best I ever tasted. When our 
stock of bread was consumed, we had recourse to them: 
it was only necessary to dip them for a moment in a glass 
of water, and they became as soft as bread. In short, the 
living on board the Vigilante was such, that I should have 
had no difficulty in "roughing it" with such fare for a 



258 IONIAN I3L£S. 

voyage of any length whatever. My bed was very good in 
a plain way. If I wished to be alone, I retired to it and 
shut my door, and read or wrote by the light of the reflec- 
tor at top, or slept, just as the fancy of the hour suggested. 
At night, there was a warm glass of good rum punch for 
anybody who liked it. and the pipe and cigar, being con- 
fined to the deck. I suffered no inconvenience in that re- 
spect. There was a fiddler among the sailors, and also a 
guitarist, who. when all was going on smooth, cheered their 
companions with Maltese or Ulyrian airs. 

On the second morning of our voyage. (24th November.) 
when I went on deck, I had the gratification to find that we 
made way during the night, and were already close by the 
northern shore of Ithaca, which was on our left, as well as 
Cape Nisardo in Cephalonia, and on our right the island 
of Santa Maura. The morning was cloudy, with a light 
south wind, which yielding soon after to a strong land- 
breeze from the east, that bent our vessel almost on its side, 
we went on at the rate of nine or ten knots an hour. Soon 
after, we came in sight of the small islands of Paxo and 
Antipaxo, and passed by Parga, on the Albanian shore, 
which looked magnificent at a distance. The wind ha 1 , 
again changed to the south, it was directly in our stern, 
and we proceeded with all our sails distended, right before 
the breeze. Cape Bianco, off Corfu, was seen before sun- 
set, and at half-past ten o'clock the same night, we were 
anchored before the town, having performed, notwithstand- 
ing our delay in tacking out of the gulf, the speediest pas- 
sage from Patras to Corfu which the Vigilante had ever 
known. 

The next morning (25th) I went ashore, and proceeded 
to the Bella Venetia"; but it was full of people waiting to go 
to Zante by the Island steamer. I next tried Sergeant T 
lors, as the English familiarly call a very decent private 
hotel, kept by a veteran of that name, who has the reputa- 
tion, and I believe deservedly, of being the most civil, as 
well as the most hospitable of innkeepers : but there too I 
failed to obtain admission, as the house was filled with 
Englishmen, three of whom were waiting for the packet to 
Trieste. The sergeant, however, sent out a friend to con- 
duct me to a locanda, or lodging-house; and as I was go- 
ing along the street, we were met by a Greek priest, who 
offered to provide me with an apartment in his own house. 
I immediately accepted his offer, and followed him to a re- 
spectable house, where he assigned me the best room he 
had at his disposal. It was not particularly elegant but I 
was contented with its appearance; and having arranged 
my personnel, I went forth to see the town, in which I found 






A DAY LATE. 269 

myself at once at home, as red coats, English artillerymen, 
and the beautiful Irish brogue, told me, without much cir- 
cumlocution, that I was under the protection of a powerful 
British garrison. 

In a few years, Corfu will be a second Gibraltar. The 
works already completed, and those which have been com- 
menced, will, when the whole shall be perfected, render that 
position impregnable, if so unmilitary a critic as myself may 
presume to form a judgment on the matter. The situation 
of Corfu is one almost of matchless beauty. To me its am- 
ple harbour, the fortified island by which it is protected on 
the southeast, its fine opening towards the Adriatic, its 
Acropolis, with a lighthouse that seems lifted to the sky, its 
position with relation to the ranges of Pindus, Buciniro, 
and Tepelene on the Albanian shore, confer upon it a va- 
riety and grandeur of scenery, scarcely inferior to that 
which has gained so much admiration for the Bay of Na- 
ples. 

I paid my respects to the Lord High Commissioner, (Lord 
Nugent,) whom I was glad to find in excellent health and 
spirits. He desired that I should join his family circle at 
dinner, where I found that I had just been one day too late 
to witness two of the most interesting spectacles that had 
been exhibited for many years in the Ionian islands. The 
previous day had been celebrated by a species of tourna- 
ment peculiar to the islands, in which some of the native 
young noblemen, and the officers of our garrison, clothed 
in splendid armour, had contended for prizes, the value of 
which must have been not a little augmented in the esti- 
mation of the victors, when presented to them by the hand 
of Lady Nugent, whose personal accomplishments and ex- 
quisite literary taste have been rendered familiar to us all 
by more than one standard production in our language. 
The same evening a fancy ball took place at the palace, a 
spacious and very handsome edifice, well calculated for the 
display of every kind of hospitality ; and I must say that I 
was for once disposed to bring my stars to account for de- 
priving me of the pleasure, which I should have felt had I 
been in Corfu twenty-four hours sooner, when I heard of 
the assemblage of beauty, and of gay and various costumes, 
which had graced the rooms on that occasion. 

There is an excellent garrison library near the palace at 
Corfu. I was extremely anxious to read the latest news- 
papers from England ; but not happening to have any mili- 
tary acquaintance in the garrison, I presented my card at 
the" door, and discovered, very much to my satisfaction, 
that I had already secured myself an admission to the in- 
stitution by the publication of my "Visit to Spain," which 

23* 



270 GARRISON LIBRARY 

the librarian was so good as to say had rendered any fur- 
ther introduction in my favour unnecessary. He showed 
me the book on the shelves. He further informed me of a 
circumstance of which I had been previously ignorant, that 
I was the relative of a nobleman whose name I bear — at 
least he said that when that individual was lately at Corfu, 
he expressed his belief that the author of the work in ques- 
tion was one of his kindred. It is very pleasant for a lite- 
rary man to find that in places where he is personally un- 
known, his exertions may have rendered his name accept- 
able to persons of so much private worth as the nobleman 
to whom I allude, and with whom I have never, by any 
chance, had the slightest communication. Neither have I 
any sort of claim to the honour which he conferred upon 
me: but still it is gratifying in these degenerate days of lite- 
rary influence, to observe, that intellect has its claims upon 
rank, as well as consanguinity, and that even when those 
claims are not preferred, and, indeed, are not thought of, 
they are ready to be acknowledged. 

However, I would not break through the garrison rule 
of an introduction, and Mr. Matthias "of the Artillery, who 
happened to be present, undertook to be my sponsor. The 
papers did not come down later than the 12th of Novem- 
ber, but they contained a great mass of intelligence with 
which I had been unacquainted. 

I could have spent some weeks with great pleasure at 
Corfu, but the time of the Austrian packet being expired, I 
returned to my berth on the 26th (November.) n The three 
Englishmen, of whom I had already heard at Serjeant 
Taylor's, were in the cabin. We were under weigh at four 
o'clock a. m. the following morning, but there beins?scarcely 
any wind, we loitered all day in the canal of Corfu. 

We all soon discovered that we had a character on board, 
who was likely to afford us some amusement during- our 
voyage. He was dressed in blue fustian trousers. a "shirt, 
a black serge cassock, a shovel hat. and a very scanty 
mantle of the same material as his cassock, scarcely reach- 
ing below his shoulders. He said he was a Frenchman; 
that he had been educated for the church at the college of 
Limoges; that he had received deacon's orders. He had 
had an inspiration, he assured us, which bade him perform 
a pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem, and he 
had gone as far as Alexandria for that purpose; but hav- 
ing been informed at that place bv his consul, that the 
plague would be very likelv to dispose of him if he went 
much further, he prudentlv postponed his pilgrimage, ana 
was now on his return to France. His ^reat hat which 
nad evidently seen much service, he wore only on occa- 



VOYAGE. 271 

sions of state; his ordinary head-dress was a silk hand- 
kerchief tied tightly round his forehead, which rather aug- 
mented the caricature expression of his round jolly-looking 
face. He had his berth forward ; but as he really was a well 
educated man, and a most eccentric fellow in every way, 
we frequently drew him out, whenever he was not inclined, 
though that happened very rarely — to exhibit himself for 
our entertainment. 

We sent for the deacon in the evening, and offered him 
some punch ; but he perferred the unadulterated liquor, 
which soon opened all the sources of his eloquence. He 
informed us that he had a mission to preach to the hea- 
thens, and favoured us with some of the harangues by 
which he had meditated to convert them. They were very 
droll : but he argued that drollery was often more con- 
vincing than a homily, and it was his peculiar mission to 
laugh the Arabs out of their errors. We asked him in wiiat 
language he meant to address them, as it was possible 
they mfght not understand French. To which he replied, 
with a mystic shrug of the shoulders, that wherever he 
went the French language would be instantly known to 
everybody by ina-pi ration ; indeed, it was the only language 
now spoken in Paradise, and would soon become univer- 
sal upon earth ! 

On the 2Sth we were still stationarj r — not a breath of 
wind in any part of the heavens — the day dark, rainy, and 
miserable. Better hopes came with the ensuing morning, 
when the sun shone warmly through a perfectly cloudless 
sky. Light winds sprung up, and wafted us at length 
quietly beyond the canal of Corfu. We fired in vain at 
two cormorants who were perched at some distance on a 
rock, engaged in fishing, wiiile as usual a gull acted as 
their sentinel, doubtless expecting to be well paid for his 
trouble. During the night we made about seventy m»:les, 
and proceeded "on the 30th at a fair rate until about noon, 
when the wind changed from the south to the northwest — 
that is to say, right against us. The vessel rolled a good 
deal, and though at three o'clock we all sat down to din- 
ner as usual, the table w T as soon thinned of its guests. 
Strange to say, the doctor attached to the packet was the 
first to surrender— he was followed by my three English 
fellow-passengers — and the captain, the two lieutenants, 
and I, had the dessert to ourselves. 

December came as it ought to do, with a " fine frosty 
morning," as the extinct watchmen used to say ; the w T ind 
still either northwest or northeast ; in either way almost 
equally hostile to our rigftt course. We were steering for 
Ragusa, but we had no chance of " progressing," and so 



272 RAGU3A. 

we beat about the whole day, and the whole of the ensuing 
night: in the morning we had the felicity to observe that 
we had "advanced backwards;" we were perfectly be- 
calmed the whole day. 

A magnificent atmospheric delusion appeared in the 
western sky the whole evening. The sun set behind a 
field of broken clouds, which seemed to extend along the 
whole of the Italian side of the Adriatic. The fragments 
of vapour were fixed, and precisely resembled a dense 
and boundless forest of pines. The trunks, some biforked, 
the branches, the rounded tops, here thickly clustering 
behind one another, there opening vistas through the 
depths of the shade behind, looked as if nature were en- 
gaged in one of her sublimest moods of study for some 
exhibition worthy of another sphere. 

While we were gazing with silent admiration at this 
wondrous scene, the sun shot his parting rays upward from 
"below the horizon, and pointed to the new moon, which, 
with the evening star just above it, reminded me of the 
skies of Turkey and the iEgean. 

On the evening of the 3d we entered the small, but se- 
cure, interesting harbour of Gravosa, near Ragusa, but 
were not allowed to land, on account of quarantine. Luck- 
ily the packet had the privilege of taking a "health officer" 
on board at this place ; and from the day of his coming on 
board we were entitled to begin our period of quarantine, 
fourteen days, which, had we already arrived at Trieste, 
we should have had to spend in the lazaretto. The officer 
came on board the same evening. We were fortunate in 
finding shelter at Gravosa, as, during the whole night, the 
wind blew fiercely from the north ; so much so, that, even 
sheltered as we were by lofty hills on all sides, so agitated 
was the sea in the harbour, that we were obliged tcTthrow 
out a second anchor to keep the vessel in her station. The 
day was spent in laying in a fresh stock of provisions 
of all sorts, as the captain now clearly foresaw that our 
voyage was likely to be prolonged beyond the ordinary 
period. 

We had each a store of books, which we exchanged with 
each other ; and these, with walks on the deck, the time 
spent at meals, and by my friends at their pipes and cigars, 
our evening whist parties, and the closing glass of punch, 
enabled us to wear through these delays better than we 
could have expected. The still remaining additional con- 
solation was also at hand, that our quarantine was every 
hour diminishing, and that it was much more agreeable 
even to count it on board the packet at Gravosa, than- in 
the lazaretto at Trieste. 



CONTRARY WINDS. i?3 

The neighbourhood of the Dalmatian shore also enabled 
us to vary our mode of living a little: fresh grapes and 
apples, and even tripe soup, and beefsteaks, appended or pre- 
fixed to a bottle of sherry or champaign, Were not unwel- 
come to such a party as we happened to be — an extremely 
pleasant party too, I must add, to the pleasures of which 
the officers of the vessel added very considerably by their 
uniform civility, and their disposition to share in all our 
amusements. 

We weighed, anchor once more on the morning of the 
6th of December ; but though we advanced a little way 
with a slight south wind, we were not fifty miles from Ra- 
gusa at noon on the 7th, when the wind became due west. 
We tacked about the whole day, which was as warm and 
as brilliant as an English day in spring. 

8th. Wind northwest. We were opposite the island of 
Cazza, about 120 miles from Ragusa ; the day so warm, 
that when we sat in the cabin we were obliged to have the 
top-lights open. The heat became so oppressive at night 
that we remained to a late hour on deck looking at the ef- 
fect of the moon, in her first quarter, shining on the waves. 
Those that came sparkling near us soon lost their light: 
but the more distant undulations seemed an unchanging 
path of chased and solid silver. 

9th. Made only twenty miles during the night, having 
passed the large island of Lissa. About eight o'clock a. m. 
a breeze came to our assistance from the southeast, and 
enabled us to move on at the rate of six knots an hour. 
Dense clouds hung over the isle of Lesina behind us ; and 
while we were examining them, with a view to conjecture 
how they might affect the weather, they discharged them- 
selves of an enormous volume of water, by means of two 
successive waterspouts, each of which looked to us, who 
happily were at a distance, like a cable suspended from the 
sky, and waving in the wind. We distinctly saw the sea rise 
to meet the descending torrent, which came down from the 
clouds as if poured through a tunnel. 

The doctor turned pale when he witnessed this splendid 
phenomenon, remarking, that if it had overtaken the Vigi- 
lante, we should have been speedily overwhelmed bj^ the 
sea. His remark would have been just if the crew were 
devoid of the energy necessary to urge the vessel beyond 
the reach of the deluge; or if science and experience had 
not taught our officers that we might easily dissipate its 
force by a few discharges of cannon. We had eight large 
brass guns on board, which might in a moment cause 
such a concussion in the atmosphere as to render the wa- 
terspout perfectly harmless. As it happened, however, 
43 



g74 THE DEACON. 

we were rather more pleased to have had the opportunity 
of witnessing that rare and very striking operation from a 
more advantageous point of observation, if it were only 
for that effect which Campbell spoke of when he said, 

that 

" Distance lends enchantment to the view. 57 



CHAPTER XXX. 

t*hc deacon— A lost sliirt — Grassa islarifl— The Qiiarocro— Pola-Istrian coast- 
Trieste— Venetian steamer— Venice— Russian artist — II Fatiotico— Koine— St. 
Peter's— Hhjli mass— Don Mijpicl— C'onjpregatioM— Roman monarcliy— Crcgory 

XVI.— The Vatican hill— Garden of Nero— The Elevalion— Christian triumph. 

In one respect the doctor was right. He assured us that 
the waterspout predicted stormy weather; for in a few 
hours after, the gale did come on, sure enough, and con- 
tinued to blow the whole evening from the southeast. We 
had only a single sail out — the parroquete, as the Austrian 
seamen called it — the second largest sail of the vessel, which 
about six o'clock was shivered into mere shreds. At the 
moment it was thus shattered, the Vigilante was almost 
on her side ; and, to my inexperience, it seemed that if the 
sail had not thus yielded to the sudden burst of the tem- 
pest, she would have been blown over. The damage was 
speedily repaired, as all hands were on board, and at ten 
o'clock the storm was suddenly hushed, like a passionate 
child that has cried itself to sleep. The night was clear 
and tranquil. 

It was agreed amongst the sailors that they had never 
made so long and so disagreeable a passage before from 
Corfu to Trieste, though they had been for some two or 
three years on that station. They, one and all, imputed 
this misfortune to the presence of the deacon, whom they 
looked upon as a harbinger of evil, and as such, treated 
him with very little ceremony on all occasions. Number- 
less were the quarrels which the captain had to compose 
between this man and the sailors ; he talked to them in his 
voluble French, which they did not understand, and which 
for that reason the more provoked them. He allowed no 
rudeness to go unrepelled, and even became engaged more 
than once in regular combat for his bed, or his pillow, or 
his mug, or his shoes, or something or another of which 
thev attempted to deprive him, in order to pick a quarrel 
*> a. his reverence. The slightest encouragement on our 



OTOSSA ISLAND. 275 

part would have been accepted by them as a sufficient 
warrant on theirs to throw him into the sea ! 

Whatever was the state of the weather, the deacon was 
sure to be employed, when not eating or sleeping, in one 
of two ways; either he was writing his journal, which I 
observed he persevered in with great industry, or he was 
washing his only shirt in sea-water, which he then hung 
on the cordage of the sails to dry. It so happened that the 
said shirt was blanching in the wind during the late gale; 
and that just at the moment the parroquete was torn into 
tatters, the shirt was seen like a witch riding on the ele- 
ment, filled in a balloon shape, and borne off to a watery 
grave. The sailors absolutely cheered it on its departure, 
and exclaimed, that as the deacon was thus blown over- 
board in effigy, we should have no more bad weather ! 
The sudden lulling of the tempest satisfied them soon after 
that their prediction was verified, and they became more 
complaisant towards the original, who was, however, by 
no means reconciled to the loss he had sustained, and im- 
puted it to their knavery. 

December 10. — !n the morning we found ourselves op- 
posite the long and lofty island of Grossa, whose high 
cliffs sheltered us in a great measure from a stiff breeze 
which blew from the northeast. The immediate neigh- 
bourhood of this island affords what the sailors call a port 
with the sail up : that is to say, the waters are too deep for 
anchorage, but a vessel may ride up and down, under the 
protection of its mountains, when the north and east winds 
blow too. strongly. We had good reason to deem ourselves 
fortunate in having arrived within its protecting influence, 
as our mainsail was also opening in some of its seams ; and 
the sea in the distance, towards the Italian coast, was one 
vast sheet of foam. We accordingly tacked up and down 
before the island the whole day. 

December 11.— Still before Grossa-; the wind blowing 
violently from the north; the air excessively cold; the 
mountains of our friendly island mantled in snow. We 
replaced our mainsail and parroquete. 

December 12. — We attempted last night and this morn- 
ing to venture out to sea, but found the experiment too 
dangerous to persevere in it. Accordingly we continued 
riding up and down as before in our island-harbour. A 
merchant brig joined us, which had been thirty -six days 
on her voyage from Alexandria, bound for Trieste. 

December" 13. — It was of the more importance that we 
should remain before Grossa while the wind was in the 
northeast, and blowing so violently, as we were then near 
the little Quarnero, as it is called—that is to say, the "de- 



276 P0LA - 

vomer o f men" on a small scale; the larger Quarnero 
being somewhat higher up the Adriatic. These are by no 
means agreeable sounds to a voyager. The Adriatic man- 
ners have, however, not at all exaggerated the dangers of 
the two gulfs in bestowing upon them these appellations, as 
a year seldom passes without witnessing eight or ten 
wrecks of their ill- managed country boats in the larger 
Quarnero, and perhaps half the number in the smaller 
one. 

Both these perilous parts of the Adriatic are gulfs, the 
first of which extends from the sea towards the Dalmatian 
coast, formed by a number of small islands, from around 
which a very heavy sea is accumulated in one body, and 
rolled with tremendous force by a northeastern wind. We 
ventured from our island about ten o'clock last night, and 
though the ship rolled a good deal, we passed the mouth 
of this gulf in two hours after, and then proceeded quietly 
under the protection of the islands, which are thickly 
strewed along the Croatian coast, until ten o'clock this 
morning, when we entered the mouth of the larger Quar- 
nero, an extensive gulf formed by the northwest coast of 
Croatia, and the eastern coast of lstria. 

The wind was blowing due north, almost a gale, so that 
we must have encountered the dangers of the scene in their 
worst form. The waves that rolled from the interior of 
the gulf were large, but regular, and much rounded, and 
the most picturesque undid; tions 1 ever saw. Our vessel, 
steenmr direct for the promontory of lstria, in order to 
turn the cape, leaned, of course, with a north wind, on her 
side, her edge and part of her bulwarks being under water, 
and the parroquete itself occasionally kissing the wa 
Two or three angry billows splashed the deck, but by noon 
we were round "the point without any kind of difficulty. 
We then made our way rapidly along the lstrian coast, 
towards the gulf of Trieste. 

As we passed near Pola, we had a good opportunity of 
exploring with our glasses the remains — indeed I should 
have said the complete shell — of the ancient amphitheatre, 
which still records the extension of Roman luxury and 
taste to that region. It seemed to be in excellent preser- 
vation. The towns and villages spread along the coast 
are prettily situated. The wind being still in the north 
when we approached towards Rovigno, we were oblij 
to anchor in that harbour at four in the afternoon. The 
town is of considerable extent; its magnificent church 
forms a striking object from the sea, and it pos<e> 
a monastery, apparently capable of containing three or 
four hundred monks. Behind the town the country rises 

17* 



TRIESTE. £77 

gradually in green well -cultivated hills, and then farther 
away into lofty mountains, whose ridges were covered 
with snow. Just as we let go the anchor, the wind, which 
had blown so violently during four days, almost without 
intermission, was succeeded by a dead calm. The even 
ing was beautiful, but cold — the moon nearly full. 

December 14 — Proceeded at seven o'clock in the morn- 
ing with a light wind along the coast of Istria, the scenery 
of which strongly resembles that of the Campagna of Rome 
-—mountains still in the distance crowned with snow, and 
declining gradually in undulations towards the sea. The 
green declivities were here and there occupied by villages 
and hamlets, and dotted by separate cottages and villas. 
The picturesque effect of the scenery received not a little 
improvement from the circumstance of the snow on the 
mountain-tops being occasionally streaked by sandy ridges 
which had already absorbed it. The sun shone the whole 
day in an unclouded sky. At noon we beheld the Alps of 
Friuli, and the Italian coast round the head of the gulf as 
far as Venice. We made way, however, very slowly, by 
tacking, and anchored for the night at Omago. 

December 15. — Passed the point of Salvori — the morning 
splendid — vessels tacking about in the gulf of Trieste in 
all directions, of all qualities and sizes — the Alps topped 
w r ith snow — the waves just agitated enough for a sea picture 
— Trieste distant about fifteen miles — the wind still north- 
erly, and scarcely allowing us to make any advance to- 
wards our destination. At noon, finding it impossible to 
combat with our enemy, and the evil stars of the deacon, 
we anchored at Pirano. 

December 16. — We were engaged nearly seven hours in 
tacking from Pirano to Trieste, a distance of twelve miles. 
At length, however, we reached the harbour at two o'clock 
in the afternoon ; but although we were entitled to pratique 
at once, having exhausted the whole of our quarantine at 
sea, the officers, it seems, had gone to dinner, and were 
not expected to return to business till to-morrow ! So we 
were obliged to remain on board. The port was crowded 
with shipping. An Austrian brig of war was preparing to 
sail for America, having on board a number of Polish 
exiles. A steamboat was also in the harbour, named 
the Sophia, one of those which ply between Trieste and 
Venice. 

December 17. — We obtained pratique at eight o'clock in 
the morning, having been thus detained nearly three weeks 
on the voyage from Corfu to Trieste. Before we quitted 
the Vigilante, we had the mortification to see another of 
the Austrian packets come in from Corfu in three days, 
43* 24 



^78 VENETIAN STEAMER. 

having had a south wind the whole way. But on the other 
hand, the passengers by the latter vessel had still the whole 
of their quarantine to perform, and we did not at all envy 
them their station in the lazaretto. 

Trieste exhibited every appearance of being a highly 
prosperous port. Signs of active and increasing commerce 
were visible in every part of the town. Many capital houses 
and extensive magazines have been recently erected there, 
and no doubt can be entertained that when steam naviga- 
tion shall become more familiar to the shores of the Medi- 
terranean, Trieste will rise to a j;ank equal to that which 
once belonged to Genoa. The Hotel Grande, at which we 
stopped, is as good as any thing of the kind to be met 
with in England. The shops and the markets were abun- 
dantly filled with every description of goods, and fruits, 
and vegetables, and thronged With customers. The sale 
of bread seemed principally confined to one street, where 
countrv-women were sitting down by their baskets on 
each side ; the said baskets, and the pavement all around 
them being occupied by cakes and loaves of remarkably 
fine bread of their own baking. We gave the officers of 
the Vigilante as good a dinner as the Hotel Grande could 
furnish, in return for the uniform attentions which they 
showed us during our protracted voyage, and the same 
evening I proceeded onboard the Archckuke Charles steamer 
bound for Venice. - 

This vessel is very handsomely fitted up— indeed, much 
more tastefully than any Trrad ever seen at home. The 
principal cabin is splendid, and the berths all round re- 
markably convenient. We had nearly fifty passengers on 
board. We did not quit our moorings until near one 
o'clock. As soon as the first light of morning came I was 
on deck, and found that the wind, having been right in 
our stern, a sail had been hoisted, and the spires and towers 
of Venice were already visible above the sea. As we 
advanced towards it rapidly, it would have been no poeti- 
cal phraseology, to describe Venice as a city rising from 
the waters, for that was literally the appearance which it 
presented. We entered the harbdur at eight o'clock, 
having performed the voyage of seventy-two miles in seven 
hours. 

The first views of Venice, however, from the sea, were 
not so imposing as I had expected ; although I beheld it 
under the gradually increasing lights of the rising sun, yet 
as these lights were coming from behind me, and revealed 
only the more prominent edifices in front, leaving the more 

distant spires and buildings still hidden in the vapours ol 
the night, the prospect wanted those characters of perspeo- 



VENICE. 279 

tive and magnitude which had exhibited Constantinople to 
so much greater advantage. But when I entered the grand 
canal, and the sun disclosed the long lines of palaces and 
churches to view — above all, when we approached St. 
Mark's, and began to mingle with the gondolas, and to feel 
the singular effect which these gloomy-looking caiques and 
numerous other boats produced, moving about in all direc- 
tions through numberless canals, where they were soon 
lost to the eye, and never present to the ear, all the associ- 
ations of past renown, of chivalry, power, crime, and the 
contrasts of visible bankruptcy and meanness with the gor- 
geous opulence and pride by which this queen of the seas, 
at no very remote period, was raised to pre-eminence, 
swept through the mind in rapid succession, soliciting for 
Venice those heart-felt impulses of indulgence and com- 
passion, which render it almost impossible ever after to 
remember her desolate appearance without the deepest 
emotion. 

I had had no sleep during the night, as our steamer, how- 
ever beautiful in its decorations, was very creaky, and the 
paddles very noisy. But I forgot all these things, when, 
after breakfasting at Daniel's Hotel Royal, I posted off 
towards the Place of St. Mark, passed between the pillars 
of granite brought from Greece, beheld the Campanile, the 
Corinthian horses 1-explored St. Mark's well-known church, 
and the ducal palace, its splendid libraries and picture-gal- 
leries ; its chambers,' once the scenes of the most despotic 
oligarchical power ever known to mankind; its prisons 
and dungeons— its " bridge of sighs !"— traversed the por- 
ticoes of the great square, and stood on the Rialto, 

The next day was devoted to the principal churches, 
where preparations were already going on for the celebra* 
tion of the great festival of the Nativity. Every thing has 
gone to decay at Venice except its churches, and these are 
unquestionably without rivals, even at Rome, St. Peter's 
and St. John Lateran only excepted, and perhaps one or 
two others. The paintings, the frescoes, the marble 
altars, and columns and pilasters, the mosaiqued floors, 
ttie statues and monuments by which the numerous sacred 
edifices are distinguished at Venice, can only be sufficient- 
ly appreciated by the visiter who has ample time to meditate 
on all their excellence. To me, before whom they passed 
as in a panorama, they are but a dream — a dream indeed 
full of luminous recollections, to which I never look back 
for a moment without wishing myself at Venice again. 

The weather was extremely cold ; but as the moon was 
at its maturity, I nevertheless felt a singular gratification 
in .rambling through the streets at night, observing the pip* 



2S0 RUSSIAN ARTIST. 

turesque effects of the lights and shadows in which the 
canals, and gondolas moving on them in silence, the tow- 
ers of the churches, the palaces and squares, were exhibit- 
ed. The finest shadow, I presume, to be seen in the world, 
is that of the Campanile, when thrown by the position of 
the moon quite to the extremity of the Place of St. Mark. 

The Academy of Painting necessarily occupied the 
greater part of a day. I need hardly have noted my as- 
cent of the Campanile, as the summit of the tower affords 
one of the finest prospects in existence, including the la- 
goons, the islands and seas round Venice, and the Tyro- 
Jese Alps. My three Venetian suns and moons vanished 
like a moment, and at midnight on the 20th (December) I 
found myself in Mestre on "my way to Rome, where I 
hoped to arrive in time for the Christmas high mass at St. 
Peter's. 

Padua, the Euganean hills, Albano celebrated for its hot 
baths, the Adige, and the Po, Ferrara. and Bologna, suc- 
cessively led me on to the Apennines. At I i I fortu- 
nately procured a seat in the courier's carriage, for the 
"eternal city." I met with a most interesting companion 
in a Russian by birth, who seemed altogether devoted to 
the art of painting, in which he had already acquired some 
celebrity. He had a touch of "II Fanatico : ' about him 
upon every subject connected with his profession, which 
was to me excessively amusing. He talked of the people 
of Italy with rapture. The fact was. he had been recently 
exhibiting at Bologna a picture of Herculaneum. which 
had procured for him the highest eulogies from all qaarte 
the Italians knowing scarcely any limits to praise w 
once they commence the offers of their incense. He was 
overflowing with delight, as it was his first crand work; 
he had, as he said to me with much naivete, made a name; 
his was one of the great names of the da v. that would soon 
be on every tongue ! 

His usual residence was at Rome, the only part of the 
world, he thought, in which a man of taste could live. The 
climate was to him inspiration, a sort of Paradise, in which 
his genius revelled incessantly. That of Naples was still 
more exciting— " Indeed, whenever I visit Naples,-' said he 
"I become a fool, so ungovernable is the sense of happi 
ness, the wild joy, the rush of noble thoughts that fill mi 
soul !" J 

I could not keep up at all with this man's torrent o, 
ideas; and then turning plaintively upon me. he would 
lament the uninflammable materials of which ail English- 
men, indeed all northerns, were composed ! They knew 
not what genius was ; they were a very good sort' of peo- 



ROME. 281 

pie, very rich and well-informed, and all that; but they 
were too civilized, too frigid ; they were so many marble 
statues in a shop, compared with the artist who idolized 
his profession, and followed it under the skies and amidst 
the inexhaustible models of the Vatican, and the teeming 
associations with which the " genius of the place" was 
pregnant. 

We travelled rapidly by the Pesaro road, and as there 
was as yet scarcely any snow or ice on the Apennines, 
they offered no obstruction to our speed. Early on the 
morning of the 25th, we arrived within view of the Sabine 
hills. St. Peter's soon after was within our horizon ; and 
at half-past seven a. m., our horses galloped through the 
Porto del Popolo. I was put down at the Hotel d'Alle 
magne, under the recommendation of my Russian friend, 
and at ten o'clock I was among the crowds of all tongues 
and nations, ascending the portico of the noblest temple 
ever dedicated to the worship of the true God. 

I had never experienced in England any thing like the 
rigours of cold which I had felt hitherto in Italy. At Rome 
they were intense. Nevertheless, when I entered St. Pe- 
ter's, I felt as if I had been suddenly transferred to a genial 
climate, from which the surrounding atmosphere had been 
altogether excluded. I, of course, imputed this sudden 
change to the use of artificial means for heating that im- 
mense edifice, as the number of persons already assem- 
bled within its precincts, though really very considerable, 
seemed so diminutive as to be altogether incapable of pro- 
ducing by their presence any effect upon its temperature. 
But, to my surprise, I afterwards learned that there was no 
such thing as a flue or a pipe of any sort used for the pro- 
duction of artificial warmth in St. Peter's. The temperature 
of its i riter ior, owing to the vastness of the space compre- 
hended beneath its matchless dome and roof] never varies 
at any season of the year. Like the ocean, it is warm in 
winter, cold in summer, cool in the spring and the autumn; 
but these changes are felt only in relation to the external 
atmosphere; the atmosphere of the world within, itself par- 
taking of the attributes of an element in nature, never 
knows any alteration. 

The first thing that struck my eye with singular surprise 
when I found myself under the dome of this great temple, 
was the apparent insignificance of the human figures con- 
gregating towards the high altar from all the entrances. 
We seemed a race of pigmies, of children, of insects, 
blackening the marbled floor, but scarcely rising in relief 
above it. This feeling was humiliating, but it gradually wore 
off as the ceremonies of the day commenced, and the oc- 

24* 



232 HIGH MASS. 

casion on which we were assembled raised the mind to 
other objects than those of persona] interest. 

The Pope was borne to the great altar in his chair of 
state, attended by a host of cardinals and bishops, and the 
representatives and many members of all the regular or- 
ders of the church. The variety, and elegance, and splen- 
dour of ecclesiastical costumes thus brought together, 
produced a most imposing effect. The gorgeous vestments 
of his holiness in his jewelled tiara — the mitres and man- 
tles of the bishops, the red robes of the cardinals, formed 
a remarkable contrast with the poor Carmelite's white 
garb of flannel, and his ruder sandal. The Swiss papal 
guards, in their antique dress, covered over on the breast 
and back by the steel cuirass, with a hat turned up on one 
side, and decorated by a ruby dropping plume on the other, 
reminded one of the days of the crusades ; while the new- 
est fashions of Paris and London, crowding the tribunes 
in another quarter, gave a different charm to the scene, 
substituting (when the eye turned downward from that 
airy dome) real beauty for the visions of tradition. 

Amongst the remarkable person.. re present 

at this great festival, I observed b ; usurper 

of the throne of Portugal. He was in a tribune on the left 
hand of the papal throne, and appeared to gen- 

eral attention. He was an ssed in blue unj ;ted 

with some orders, obtained I know not how, or where, 
or when, as there has been any period in that 

prince's life when he merited, in my judgmen such 

distinctions. He looked, however, extremely well— indeed, 
I should have added, even a rein u \n. 

had his character not been tainted 1 dings in 

the Peninsula. His moral pi traded not a 

little from his external appearand on was 

somewhat too sanctified to be sincere. 

The great aisle of the church was lined by soldiers on 
each side, who kept a space open in the middle: behind 
them the sacred edifice was den^elv filled by the lower 
orders of the people of Rome, and I 'must say that I never 
beheld so large a concourse of people conduct themselves 
with such perfect propriety. I wish I could bear a similar 
testimony to the demeanour of the better-dressed grou| 
who had the privilege of the tribunes which were arranged 
at each side of the high altar, as well as of the intervening 
spaces. The greater number of these groups consisted.! 
regret, to say, of English families, who seemed to think that 
they came to "be seen," and to attract notice to themselves 
by their loud remarks and their intrusive manners, appear- 
ing to think that St. Peter's was a theatre, and the sacred 



ROMAN MONARCHY* 2S3 

solemnity an opera, at which they were to display their su- 
perior taste in music, and their progress in the French or 
Italian language. The thought that they were attending 
divine service seemed never to occupy them for an instant. 
I must add, at the same time, that other foreigners, and 
especially the French, rivalled the English in this most im- 
proper conduct. 

The high altar, as everybody knows, is immediately 
under the great dome, The pope's throne was erected at 
the western extremity of the temple, and thence to the 
altar the distance was considerable ; but it scarcely ap- 
peared so, as benches extending on each side were occu- 
pied by the cardinals and bishops, and other ecclesiastics 
who usually attend on such occasions. His holiness com- 
menced the mass at the steps of the altar, after which he 
returned to his throne and proceeded with the Introit, the 
Kyrie Eleison, and that beautiful expression of human joy 
and benevolence, " Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax 
hominibus bonae Voluntatis !" "Glory be to God on high, 
and on earth peace to men of good will !" 

Never did the concluding words of that angelic address 
to the Deity seem to me to come more meetly from the lips 
of man, than they did at that moment from the successor 
of St. Peter. — "Quoniam tu solus sanctus — Tu solus Domi- 
nus — Tu solus altissimus 1" "For Thou only art holy — 
Thou only art the Lord — Thou only art most high." 

Here was a sovereign of a monarchy the most ancient 
now flourishing in Europe, — a monarchy seated at Rome 
— the mistress of the world in all that relates to intellectual 
pre-eminence — a kingdom which has already existed longer 
than the Roman empire — appealing for mercy to the Re- 
deemer; — surrounded by many men of the greatest ac- 
quirements, by the highest dignitaries of the church, whose 
unaffected Humility and devotion outshone their gorgeous 
vestments — by large masses of the undoubted descendants 
of the ancient Roman people — by individuals from almost 
every nation under the sun — appealing to "the only Lord," 
the "Most High God," in his own name and in that of the 
great assemblage thus gathered together beneath a dome 
worthy of the Majesty of Heaven ! It was indeed a spec- 
tacle which he who once has seen it, never can think of 
without exulting that the Meek One, who, when born, was 
received in a manger — whose very name was spat upon 
where that unearthly pile is raised, was the God now hailed 
by the representatives of all nations, as the " Solus sanctus 
Dominus, altissimus Jesus Christus !" Glory indeed be to 
that God on high ! 

In tones thaftouched the heart, Gregory— the sixteenth 



284 THE VATICAN HILL. 

high pontifTof his name— forgetting the external splendours 
by which he was encompassed, poured forth these acknow- 
ledgments, these supplications — " Qui tollis peccata mundi, 
suscipe deprecationem nostram — Qui sedes ad dexteram 
Patris, miserere nobis !"— " Thou who takest away the sins 
of the world, receive our prayer— Thou who sittest on the 
right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us /" 

Let it never be forgotten, that the Vatican hill was once 
the site of the gardens and circus of Nero — the spot on 
which that emperor, to borrow the remarkable words of 
Tacitus, "inflicted the most exquisite tortures on those 
men who, under the vulgar- appellation of Christians, were 
already branded with infamy." " They derived," adds the 
philosophic historian, "their name and origin from Christ. 
who in the reign of Tiberius, had suffered death, by the 
sentence of the procurator, Pontius Pilate. For a while this 
dire superstition was checked ; but it again burst forth, and 
not only spread itself over Judea, the first seat of this mis- 
chievous sect, but was even introduced into Rome, the com- 
mon asylum, which receives and protects whatever is im- 
pure^ whatever is atrocious. The confessions of those who 
were seized discovered a great multitude of their accom- 
plices, and they were all convicted for their hatred of human- 
kind. They died in torments, and their torments were im- 
bittered by insult and derision. Some were nailed on 
crosses; others sewn up in the skins of wild beasts, and 
exposed to the fury, of dogs; others again, smeared over 
with combustible materials, were used as torches, to illumi- 
nate the darkness of the night. The gardens of Xero were 
the scene of this spectacle, which was accompanied with a 
horse-race, and honoured with the presence of the empe- 
ror, who mingled with the populace in the dress and atti- 
tude of a charioteer !" 

What were satin, brocade, cloth of gold, the splendid ar- 
ray of massive salvers and chalices, the jewelled mitre, 
and ducal hat, and triple crown in such a scene, and amidst 
such associations as these? No; I envied the supreme 
pontiff nothing, save the tear that glistened in his fine intel- 
ligent eye, when, remembering where he stood, he poured 
forth his gratitude— " Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam 
gloriam tuam."— " We give thee thanks for thv great glo- 
ry !" The choir took up the anthem unaided by tiie orga?, 
— "Laudamus te — benedicimus te — adoramus te ?? — the hal- 
leluiahs that resound forever through the abodes of the Di- 
vinity ! It was a shout of triumph, filling even that vast con- 
cave with its reverberations. 

These passages of the service were followed bv the epis- 
tle and the gospel, the credo, and the solemn preparations 



THE ELEVATION. 285 

for the sacrifice. The host that was offered up was " un- 
spotted ;" it was offered to the "living and true God," for 
the transgressions of all who were "present;" for "all 
Christians of all generations ;" " as a most sweet odour for 
the salvation of the whole world." The "sanctifier" was 
entreated to bless the "sacrifice" thus "provided for the 
glory of his name," and the angels and archangels, and all 
the elect, were summoned round the altar, that by their 
presence and mediation the very atmosphere should be 
rendered holy, and the incense sacred, with which the 
shrine was perfumed. The pontiff washed his hands 
" among the innocent," bowed down his uncovered head, 
turned to the immense multitude, called upon them to pray 
that the sacrifice might be " acceptable" to the " Father 
Almighty," to "lift up their hearts," and give thanks to the 
Lord God — the God of " Sabaoth, of whose glory the 
heavens and the earth were full." These appeals were an- 
swered by another burst of triumph from the choir — " Ho- 
sanna in excelsis !" 

The stillness that followed during the moments while the 
high priest consecrated and raised the host for adoration, 
was awful. The choir was hushed — no sound throughout 
that vast prostrate multitude met the ear, save the notes of 
the higher reeds of the organ, which, floating along the 
fretted roof towards the dome above, tended only to unite 
in one cherub voice the secret orisons of the whole as- 
sembly. 

When the high mass terminated, his holiness was borne 
in procession down the great aisle, preceded as before, by 
the clergy, bishops, cardinals, and the officers of his house- 
hold. He was crowned in the tiara. At each side of his 
elevated chair of state was raised a banner of snow-white 
plumes, which are said to be among the most ancient me- 
morials of the sacred sovereignty. It was fitting that upon 
the spot where the blood of Christians had flowed, the ban- 
ners of their victory should be unfurled on such a day as 
this ; but it was still more beautiful to observe, that he who 
was thus exalted above the heads of the people, had no 
need of a slave to warn him that he was himself no more 
than mortal; he dispensed no blessings without striking 
his breast silently, preferring to all these outward circum- 
stances of human pageantry, the self-denial and humility 
that should ever characterize the minister of the gospel. 
44 



286 PAPAL REVENUES. 



CHAPTER XXXL 

Tapal revenues— Public opinion— Discontents— Cold of Rome — St. John Laterafl— i 
fit. Peter's— St. Peter's chair— Windows— Cardinal Weld— English diplomacy- 
Neapolitan constitution — Austrian ascendancy — British minister at Rome— "fha 
Sistine chapel— Spanish monk— Vespers — The Roman lulls. 

It is agreed, I believe, on all hands, that Gregory XVI. 
is as much distinguished for his cheerful temper, his amia- 
ble disposition, simplicity in his mode of living, as for his 
great learning and unaffected piety. He is, moreover, a 
munificent patron of the arts, as far as the limited means 
at his command enable him to be; anxiously attentive to 
the interests of his subjects; alive to every practicable en- 
terprise that can be rendered conducive to their prosperity, 
and merciful, perhaps to an extreme, as a Christian prelate 
ought to be, in the administration of justice. Indeed, when 
I considered the very scanty revenues of the Roman sove- 
reignty, and looked around at the magnificent churches, 
the unrivalled collections of works of art, the edifices in 
which these are preserved, and the noble institutions with 
which modern Rome abounds in all quarters, I felt bound 
to admit, that throughout my journey I had observed no 
other country in which the public money had been laid out 
so much to the public advantage. 

No tax has been levied on the community that is not still 
represented by some memorial of the uses to which it has 
been applied — a temple — a new gallery in the Vatican — an 
ancient arch saved from destruction — statues of the most 
perfect workmanship disinterred from oblivion — an aque- 
duct repaired — a Colosseum almost restored — marshes 
drained and cultivated — roads infinitely superior to the Fla- 
vian or Appian Ways, constructed or renewed. So care- 
fully have the remains of Imperial Rome been guarded by 
the same hands which have raised the finest Christian edi- 
fices in the world, that the stranger who goes to Rome for 
the first time is doubtful which he must the more admire — 
the Rome of the Caesars, or the Rome of the Pontiffs. Of 
this I am perfectly convinced, that if the mistress of the an- 
cient world had fallen into the hands of the common order 
of sovereigns, who had luxurious courts to pamper, and 
costly wars to sustain, and large families to establish, nei- 
ther the Vatican, nor St. Peter's, would have ever existed, 
Michael Angelo would have lived in vain, and the Raphaels 
and the Titians would have died like those "mute inglo- 
rious Milton s," upon whose names the light of immortality 
had never shone. Rome would have been at this day as 






DISCONTENTS. 257 

fatal to health, as unsightly in its ruinous streets, as Stam- 
boul— probably as desolate as Palmyra. The popes can 
give a good account, both individually and collectively, of 
their stewardship — " Si monumenta quceris, circumspiceP 

Sooner or later, however, difficulties will arise with re- 
spect to the civil administration of the Roman states, of 
which I am not at all insensible. A tide of enlightened, 
steady, public opinion is undoubtedly arising throughout 
the whole of Italy, which is unfriendly — and, I must add, 
justly so — to a system of government which is carried on 
chiefly through the agency of ecclesiastical persons. The 
substitution of spiritual legations for temporal delegations 
of authority, of a theocracy for that which ought to be a 
purely secular combination of functions, cannot long sur- 
vive the day at which we are now arrived. The papal pow- 
er is not, and ought not to be, strong enough to contend 
against the revolution which is approaching in this respect. 
Even as matters now stand, the Holy Father requires the 
constant assistance of Austria, in order to maintain his as- 
cendency. And as France will not permit Austrian inter- 
ference alone, the former seems resolved to garrison An- 
cona as long as the latter chooses to retain possession of 
Bologna. This state of things cannot be permanent. 

It is very well understood, that the discontented of the 
Roman states do not desire to withdraw themselves from 
the temporal dominion of the pope. If they did, they well 
know that they must immediately fall under the yoke either 
of France or Austria, for the idea of an Italian republic, in 
the present state of Europe, is the vision of a school-boy. 
What they really seek for, what it is most their interest to 
solicit in a peaceable manner, and to secure in a lasting 
form, is a constitutional system of government, carried on 
by lay functionaries, and presided over by the pope, as 
prince of the Roman states, and not as bishop of the see of 
Rome. It is necessary for all parties, that this question 
should be speedily settled, the more especially as the appa- 
rent tranquillity of Lombardy is but the repose of the vol- 
cano. The ingredients are gathering within the womb of 
time, which must soon be ignited, and find relief in explo- 
sion, at a moment, perhaps, when such an event may be the 
least expected. Prince Metternich must be conscious that 
his imperial master holds northern Italy by a species of 
tenure which a war in any part of Europe might efface in 
a moment. History exhibits few instances of domination 
more unnatural than that of the Austrians in Italy; they 
hold it by no moral tie whatever; they retain it simply by 
the pressure of physical force, which must at no distant 



£SS 



ST. JOHN LATERAN. 



. 



hour give way before the greater force of mind, already 
rendering itself manifest in that quarter. 

The cold of Rome, during the fortnight I spent there, was 
remarkably severe. During two or three of the hours after 
mid-day, wherever the influence of the sun was felt, it was 
as warm as our spring; but the rest of the day and night 
w T as a Siberian winter, rendered the less tolerable, inas- 
much as the good folks who built most of the houses of the 
capital seem to have formed their plans universally in the 
summer, and to have totally forgotten that such a season 
as winter ever entered into the composition of a Roman 
year. In very few chambers is a fireplace to be met with; 
and where there is one, it happens to be so large that it ad- 
mits currents of air sufficient to freeze the very soul. 

Nevertheless, my time passed away with amazing rapid- 
ity. After spending a day or two in roving over the Pin- 
cian and Quirinal hills, along the banks of the still " yellow" 
Tiber, and in the haunts of the great men of other days, I 
made the round of the churches, of which St. John Lateran 
and Santa Maria Maggiore, are, I believe, after St. Peter's, 
the most splendid. The embellishments of the former are 
indeed upon a most magnificent scale : its ancient ecclesi- 
astical curiosities are preserved with great care, especial- 
ly the table on which the " last supper* 5 is said to have been 
celebrated. In the Corsini chapel, which is a very elegant 
structure, besides the monuments of the family, there is a 
most superb sarcophagus of porphyry, supposed to have 
been that of Agrippa, which was found in the Pantheon. 
Near St. John Lateran there are several objects well worth 
examination. Returning from that quarter, I visited the 
triumphal arch of Constantine, and the Colosseum, and the 
Forum of Trajan — and thus exhausted a day noted in my 
calendar as one of the most delightful I have ever known. 

I usually devoted my mornings either to the Colosseum 
or St. Peter's, and remarked that I was enabled to appre- 
ciate the former the first moment I entered it ; but that eve- 
ry time I passed the porch of the latter, it seemed to disclose 
new features of grandeur which I had not observed before. 
When I first entered that spacious area I was much dis- 
satisfied, not with the. edifice, but with myself. I saw plainly 
before me all the combinations of transcendent genius and 
skill and taste, which could possibly be brought together for 
the exec utkmofthe most perfect monument of art ever exhib- 
ited to human contemplation. But I had come almost fresh 
from the Parthenon, the beauty of which, like that of an 
antique medal, or of a sun-bright female countenance, I 
comprehended the instant I beheld it; whereas, when I 
found myself within St. Peter's, all was so vast, and yet so 






289 

harmonious, that my mind could fix no focus for itself) 
within which the flood of light around me could be concen- 
trated for the formation of a picture. 

But I discovered that this defect became less sensible, 
when, by frequent observation, I made myself more con- 
versant with the details of this majestic structure; that I 
attained, in particular positions, points of sight at which 
the individual features came out in all their designed ef- 
fect, and that thus, step by step, I mounted the airy scale 
leading to the dome, upon which, like that of the traveller 
from Beersheba, the wrapt imagination might behold " the 
angels of God ascending and descending." The perfect 
order in which every thing is kept throughout the temple, 
the delicate cleanliness of the altars and their ornaments, 
the beauty of the paintings, the colossal grandeur of the 
.statues, the silence and decorum observed by those who 
attend the every-day services, are all parts of one great 
whole. All thoughts are hushed within that heavenly sanc- 
tuary, save those which belong to religion — to eternity ! 

The monument of Paul III, is perhaps the only object 
which a severe taste would wish to see removed from St. 
Peter's. In any secular edifice it would be less liable to 
criticism. It is distinguished by those two celebrated stat- 
ues to which I have already alluded, of Justice, represented 
as a girl of enchanting beauty, and of Prudence, person- 
ated by an old woman of the most repulsive ugliness. 
Such was the fascination excited in minds not accustom- 
ed to the contemplation of beauty as the perfection of ideal 
models, by the marvellous contrast between the two fig- 
ures, that it was found absolutely necessary to conceal the 
form of Justice in a vest of bronze. In consequence of 
this alteration, the completeness of the contrast is injured, 
and the monument has now assumed a tendency towards 
caricature, or conceit, not fitting to be seen in such a place. 
But under any circumstances, a work that exhibits Pru- 
dence in the shape of deformity — one of the first of virtues 
under the least engaging aspect — seemed to me, I must 
confess, rather out of place in a Christian cathedral. 

Neither could I prevail upon myself to admire the figure 
of St. Peter, seated in the chair which is said to have be- 
onged originally to the Apostle himself The skepticism 
of Lady Morgan on this point called forth a very ingenious 
brochure from the pen of my friend Dr. Wiseman, the 
president of the English college at Rome, which certainly 
does present very plausible grounds for the belief of those 
oersons who are anxious to cling to the traditions respect- 
ing that relic of the olden times. Even if my friend, whose 
learning mav be said to be truly Catholic, for it is univer- 
44* 25 



£90 WINDOWS. 

sal, were right in all his conclusions, they would not pre- 
vent me from wishing to see that monument transferred as 
a curiosity to the Vatican, rather than presented amidst so 
many altars to the veneration of the people. 

I hardly know what to set down as the result of my first 
feeling of disappointment in not having found any painted 
windows, or, indeed, any thing that could be deemed a 
window at all in St. Peter's. I am aware that these are es- 
sentially Gothic ornaments, and that, therefore, I ought 
not to have expected to find them in an edifice, from the 
plan of which the Gothic order has been entirely excluded. 
It must, 1 think, be admitted, that the uncheckered plain- 
ness of the glass, and the diminutive size of the windows, 
must be altogether overlooked by those who would wish 
to keep in their recollection impressions worthy of the sub- 
lime temple itself. This circumstance demonstrates that 
an imperfection lurks in that part of the design, which still 
requires revision. 

The streets of Rome wore an ascetic appearance, not- 
withstanding the gay crowds which are to be seen every 
afternoon in the Corso. This, perhaps, is in some meas- 
ure to be attributed to the great number of ecclesiastics, 
who may be seen passing and repassing everywhere, 
at all hours of the day. But in addition to the effect 
arising from the presence of so many clerical habits, 
there is a severity o{ feature about Rome itself which is 
very striking. I did not at all object to it, rather the re- 
verse: it looks the more Roman on that account; and I 
even thought, though perhaps it may be deemed a fancy, 
that the same austere Tacitus or Sallust style of expres 
sion appertained to the Sabine and other hills in the neigh 
bourhood of the "eternal city/' 

The real minister of England at the Court of Rome is 
Cardinal Weld, so far as all the departments of a Eritish 
legation are concerned, which are in any way connected 
with the convenience and protection of our sojourners in 
that capital. We have, indeed, a consul-general at that 
station — a very respectable and obliging person, who is 
uniformly prepared to show every attention in his power 
to his countrymen. But it is obvious that a gentleman to 
whom feea are to be paid for his services, and whose 
business, as a banker and general merchant, necessarily 
occupies much of his time, is not exactly the kind of officer 
to whom an English traveller should be obliged to apply, 
if he required aid against any act of the Roman authori- 
ties, or wished to be presented to the sovereign. 

One of the gentlemen attached to the British legation at 
Florence, usually resides at Rome, and conducts the cor- 



NEAPOLITAN CONSTITUTION. 29 J 

respondence which semi- officially passes between the papal 
court and the government of Great Britain. Occasions 
are constantly arising for such correspondence. For in- 
stance, when the French Government determined on oc- 
cupying Ancona, in order to prevent Austria from inter- 
fering exclusively with the view of suppressing the insur- 
rectionary spirit that had broken out at Bologna and 
elsewhere, it became unavoidable that our government 
also should take its part in the discussions that arose out 
of those transactions. Our advice was earnestly solicited 
on the occasion by the Holy Father, and unless we chose 
to abdicate the influence which we have derived from our 
station in the world, we could not have avoided returning 
a decorous reply to his application. Accordingly our min- 
isters did give his holiness at that period, the best advice 
which the circumstances of the times seemed to them to 
demand. It was, in substance, that the complaints of the 
insurgents ought to be listened to, and their real grievances 
redressed. The discontent was manifestly produced by 
the system of local government, which prevailed through- 
out the States, administered entirely by ecclesiastics and 
upon ecclesiastical principles ; whereas the taxes were 
chiefly paid by the lay portion of the community, who had 
no control over the appropriation of the funds so consti- 
tuted. It was not to be doubted that this system was wrong 
in principle: that laymen ought to be admitted to the tem- 
poral offices of the government, and the clergy restrained 
within the sphere of functions strictly spiritual. Now the 
British government had no accredited officer at Rome, 
through whose hands this advice could be conveyed. It 
was transmitted in a latent sort of channel, as if we were 
ashamed or afraid of having any thing to do with the Court 
of Rome ! 

Again, the concession of a constitution by the king ot 
the Sicilies to his people was not long since openly spoken 
of at the Court of Naples, as an affair already arranged. 
The young king, soon after his accession to the throne, 
was really anxious to establish free institutions, to form a 
United Parliament for the two sovereigns, to introduce ex* 
tensive reforms into the whole system of his jurisprudence, 
and to construct a cabinet composed of enlightened men 
of the day, to the utter exclusion of those antiquated cour- 
tiers, who have witnessed the revolutions of the last half 
century, without changing a single idea in their minds, and 
without comprehending the possibility of improvement 
without destruction. 

These resolutions on the part of the king alarmed the 
Court of Vienna \ for if a parliament were sitting at Na- 



292 BRITISH MINISTER. 

pies, the people in Northern Italy would soon demand a 
similar constitution. Troops were actually prepared to 
march to Naples, with the view of preventing the establish- 
ment of a liberal form of government in that country; and 
for this purpose it became" necessary to negotiate with the 
Roman court for the passage of the Austrian cohorts 
through the states. A single word from England, addressed 
to the'pope, would have disconcerted that project against 
the liberties of the Neapolitan and Sicilian people ; but we 
had no representative at Rome through whom that word 
could be officially spoken ! 

Unfortunately, the menace produced the desired result. 
Prince Leopold, the king's uncle, a most subservient Aus- 
trian in politics, and the Austrian minister at Naples, again 
recovered their usual ascendency : the king had nothing to 
do but to turn devotee, and submit himself to the control 
of three priests : Capriolo, who was the secretary of the 
council ; Code, his own confessor ; and Scotti,the precep- 
tor of his brother, the prince Luigi. Thus Austria rules 
the whole of Italy, and this, in a very great measure, be- 
cause we have no resident minister at Rome ! 

The attache of the British legation at Florence, who lives 
in Rome, holds no character at the latter court. He is 
not accredited to it in any way. He cannot present an 
Englishman to the pope. He cannot do a single public 
act. Whatever business he performs of a diplomatic na- 
ture, is done "under the rose? 1 "winked at v by both the 
governments, as if they were both conscious of being en- 
gaged in some criminal proceedings in the character of 
accomplices, apprehensive every moment of dis 
capture, public exposure, and ignominious punishment ! 
While this absurd and injurious system prevails, every 
Englishman who goes to Rome must feel that he is person- 
ally degraded by it, for unless he happen to have the good 
fortune of knowing Cardinal Weld, or can venture to so- 
licit a favour from an English gentleman, invested with a 
foreign dignity, to whom he is an entire stranger, he has 
no advantageous mode of obtaining a presentation at 
court. 

I need not observe that his eminence is always accessible 
to his countrymen, and seems never so happy as when he 
can oblige them in any way. But this is not the footing upon 
which relations between the two countries should be permit- 
ted to remain. Cardinal Weld is, 1 believe, the only English- 
man who has been admitted into the sacred college since the 
"Reformation," with the exception of one of the members 
of the Stuart family. A similar event may not again occur 
for a century. Are our affairs, then, to be confided to a 



THE SISTINE CHAPEL. 293 

merchant who has no station in the diplomatic circle, and 
to a fugitive attache from Florence, who is almost afraid 
to be seen at the Vatican? 

I may speak the more freely on this subject, as having 
long enjoyed the pleasure of being known to the Cardinal 
and to Lord Clifford, his near relative, and my esteemed 
friend, who usually resides with his eminence at the Odes- 
chalchi palace ; 1 enjoyed every facility of presentation at 
court, and of obtaining admission to all the circles and in- 
stitutions which I felt any desire to visit. But I saw at 
Rome numbers of my countrymen who were placed in a 
very different position ; a position, too, of which they loud- 
ly and justly complained, as a very mortifying one, feeling 
that all other foreigners had accredited ministers to look 
up to, and that the want of similar protection seriously af- 
fected their means of procuring introduction to the higher 
ranks of society. 

On the first day of the new year, I attended high mass at 
the Sistine Chapel, which was celebrated by Cardinal 
Franzoni, prefect of the propaganda. The pope was pres- 
ent, attended by twenty-five cardinals, and about twenty 
bishops. Among the former, I noticed with peculiar in- 
terest, Cardinal Fesch, in whose countenance I perceived 
a striking resemblance to the best portraits I had seen of 
Napoleon. The mass was sung by the pope's choir in the 
most admirable stylo. There was a remarkably slender. 
delicate, and sweetly-modulated voice in the choir on that 
occasion, which I supposed to be the voice of a boy or a 
eunuch. But, to my surprise, I learned afterwards from 
Cardinal Weld, that it belonged to the father of a large 
family, a rubicund, Boniface-looking sort of a chorister, 
who, by some peculiar good fortune has never lost the 
tones of his youth. The chapel was crowded. I happened 
to sit in the tribune near the altar by the side of a monk 
whom I had known in Spain, and who, before the service 
began, entertained me with an account of the prospects of 
Don Carlos in one part of the Peninsula, and of Don Mi- 
guel in the other. He was perfectly convinced that both 
the princes were saints, and that, therefore, they would re- 
cover their thrones to a certainty. Don Miguel, by having 
recalled the act of abdication, which he signed in Portugal, 
had forfeited his title to the handsome income which had 
been secured to him under the provisions of the quadruple 
treaty; he was, in consequence, living at that moment 
upon the bounty either of the pope, or of some of the pow T - 
ers who subscribed to the Roman treasury a sum of £300 
per month, for his subsistence. As this revenue was a very 
precarious one, and did now allow the prince the means of 



294 



THE ROMAN HILLS. 



fitting out a very splendid armament, I suggested to my 
friend that his prophecy, on that point at least, had no 
great chance of being realized. As to Don Carlos, matters 
looked more doubtful ; but I thought that the one prince 
had about the same chance of a throne as the other. How- 
ever, my monk had made up his mind on the subject, and 
kings they assuredly would be ! 

Vespers were celebrated on the same day in the church 
of the Jesuits, with a degree of splendour which I never 
saw equalled. The altar and the whole sanctuary were 
illuminated to the very roof; the choir was assisted by the 
best organ in Rome; and the edifice, capacious as it is, 
was crowded in all directions. A sermon was preached 
by a member of the order, whose spare figure seemed 
wasted by intense study. His countenance was pale from 
habitual intellectual occupation: but when he gradually 
grew warm with his subject, which he treated in a masterly 
style of sacred eloquence, a light flashed from his eye that 
seemed to electrify his audience. He kept their attention 
suspended on his lips for a full hour, during which a breath 
was scarcely heard through the dense assemblage. Then 
came the benediction, with its accompanying prayer — the 
" O salutaris hostia," and that fine old anthem — the "Tan- 
turn ergo," which, when sung in the Gregorian note, I never 
hear without emotion. 

Whoever wishes to obtain a good bird's-eye view of 
Rome and its vicinity, should ascend the tower of the capi- 
tol. Thence, as from almost a central point, he may be- 
hold the distant hills of Albano, Frescati, Preneste, Terra- 
cina, Tivoli, the Sabines, Soracte, Mario, and Janiculum; 
the seven eminences. upon which Rome was anciently con- 
structed, the (tuirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Celian, Palatine, 
Aventine, and Capitoline hills, and all the monuments now 
remaining of the pride of antiquity, as well as the splendid 
new edifices which rival or even excel them in costliness 
and grandeur. 



NAPLES. 295 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Naples— A pious piper— The chestnut man— The segretario— The money chancer 
— The small commission — The fish broiler — The porters — Maccaroni — The To- 
ledo— Lotteries— The Sicilians— Neapolitan reforms— Resistance— The Museum 
-Return home— Expenses of my journey. 

I regretted being obliged to leave Rome on the feast of 
the Epiphany, (6th of January,) as on that day masses 
were celebrated in the church of the propaganda, by cler- 
gymen from every quarter of the globe — the most extraor- 
dinary as well as the most interesting exhibition which one 
could wish to witness. But there is no regular diligence — 
strange to say — between Rome and Naples ; the only expe- 
ditious mode of travelling that route for those who have 
not their own vehicle, is by Angrisani's post carriage, 
which goes as often as he can find passengers enough to 
fill it. It was engaged by three of my countrymen for this 
day, and I deemed myself fortunate in being able to secure 
the fourth place. The following evening I was established 
at the Albergo delle Crocelle, which I found a very com- 
fortable hotel, though rather remote from the principal 
point of attraction in Naples — the Museum. 

The great street of the Toledo presented to me the next 
day the most diversified and amusing scene I ever witness- 
ed. Every body had a costume peculiar to itself, as if at- 
tending a carnival or a fancy ball. The sun, blazing in a 
cloudless sky, flung bright lights here and there, while 
the lofty houses cast their shadows in other quarters, 
as if to prepare a suitable stage for this national exhibi- 
tion of character and occupation. A merry fellow, with 
a dozen tambarines ingeniously arranged and perch- 
ed on his head, while he played on another he held in 
his hand, dressed in a cloth cap, a round jacket, a silk 
handkerchief neatly tied round his open shirt collar, a blue 
waistcoat, and red striped trousers, invited the world to 
buy a charming beguiler of tears for the bambino at home. 
Next a green-grocery-man caught the eye: his donkey is 
laden with a mat sack, nicely balanced on both sides, hav- 
ing a large mouth, where cabbages, cauliflowers, salads, 
and celery, are heaped in verdant abundance. A sugar- 
loafed hat, flatted however at the top, is on his head over a 
worsted cap 5 his swarthy face and bare neck defy the sun ; 
a pipe in his mouth, and a red waistcoat, a small pouch in 
front for his money, and short calico breeches, complete 
his apparel. No stockings hath he, nor shoe, nor sandal. 
He and his donkey seem to be real brothers. 

A pious piper, who lives on charity, begins the labours 



296 THE CHESTNUT MAN. 

of the day before some shrine of the Virgin, where a lamp 
is perpetually burning. His instrument, composed of three 
tubes, with trumpet extremities, derive their melody from 
a bag of wind which he fills from the proper wind of his 
own lungs. His pointed hat is clapped on the top of his 
bag while he is playing his propitiating prayer for success. 
His nightcap is displayed on his innocent cerebellum, his 
curly long hair flowing beneath it, and showing offhis ruddy 
distended cheek. His green coat, sleeveless mantle of goat- 
skin, and ash-coloured breeches, a piece of linen wrapped 
round his legs for stockings, and kept there by leathern 
thongs, which also secure his sandals, show that he has not 
been blowing to the shrine in vain. In fact, he looks a very 
respectable tradesman in his way. No man need be 
ashamed to beg after such a fashion as that. 

Venders of roast smoking chestnuts are a numerous tribe 
in the Toledo. They have prescriptive stations, where they 
fix their stalls, within which a small charcoal fire is always 
burning, and communicates its heat to a basket filled with 
the fruit, placed on the top, and covered with a blanket to 
keep the nuts quite hot. Whether men or women, these 
people seem to be a thrifty set, and well dressed. The man 
has a gay red worsted cap, a silk handkerchief tied tightly 
round his neck, a fine yellow waistcoat, a green round 
jacket, blue inexpressibles, clean white stockings, neat 
shoes, a stool to stand upon, and a stool to sit upon, as 
business or relaxation may require. He cries out his wares 
at the very pitch of his voice, holding his left hand to his 
cheek to render it louder. 

But have you seen the melon-man? There is a picture 
of independence. A ragged suit of loose short trousers, a 
tolerably good waistcoat, yellow or sky-blue, as the case 
may happen to be, and some fragments of a shirt, are all 
he requires in the way of wardrobe. A long board is bal- 
anced on his head, displaying the blushing fruit nicely 
sliced; and on the palm of his left hand, equally well pois- 
ed, a shorter board, exhibiting another sample of his mer- 
chandise, whilst in his right hand he gracefully waves a 
sprig of myrtle. 

Who is he with that snug capote and hood, and some 
pretty little baskets piled one on another under his arm, 
running along bare-legged? A fisherman, who sells the 
most delicate fresh herrings in the world, just taken out of 
the neighbouring bay ! The bottle-vender, whom he has 
almost knocked down in his haste, is a still greater curi- 
osity. Long wooden pins are stuck all round in the edge 
of his basket, on which pins very thin flasks for oil or wine, 
with long necks, are fixed. He looks te be one of the high 



THE MONEY-CHANGER. 297 

priests of Bacchus, with his merry face — always sure of a 
market, for the flasks are so speedily broken that he can 
scarcely supply all his customers. 

The segretario is a perfect picture. Seated at his table 
in a quiet entry, in a retired corner of a street, with a wise- 
looking old hat shading his gray locks, spectacles perched 
on his nose, paper, and well-mended pens, and ink-bottle, 
sand and wafers arranged in due order before him, he 
waits to indite a petition, or a love-letter, or a letter from a 
sailor to his mother, or from a creditor to a debtor, or to 
translate from Italian into French, or from French into 
Italian, a law paper, or a memorandum of accounts: he is 
prompt at all things, methodical, confidential, a clear-head- 
ed clean Writer — a very valuable sort of person in his way, 
who always attracted my particular respect on account of 
the unwearied patience with which he waited for his cus- 
tomers, who were too " few and far between." 

The pride of the Toledo are assuredly the money-chang- 
ers — at least in their own opinion. They are almost uni- 
versally females, and it is a part of their trade to display 
their riches in the ornaments on their persons. The hair, 
carefully braided, is tied under a dashing silk handker- 
chief, knotted in front in a somewhat coquettish style. The 
broad forehead, and sharp, well-practised eye, and intelli- 
gent face, pretty well show that if her ladyship make any 
mistake in the reckoning, it will not be on the wrong side. 
There she sits, on a chair before her strong box, on the top 
of which little baskets, overfilled with silver or copper coins, 
are arranged. A pair of massive gold — real gold rings 
and large pendants dangle from her ears. Her open neck 
displays a coral or pearl necklace, and an embroidered 
kerchief. A velvet or gros de Naples spencer, a chintz 
gown, a handsome silk apron, fingers covered all over with 
rings set with precious stones — sometimes even with dia- 
monds — attract customers on all sides. The itinerant tra- 
der who disposes of all his stock early, and is laden with 
copper pence, realizes his gains in silver at her table, on 
which she receives her small commission. The house- 
keeper, who is passing by, and wants to buy some trifling 
things, gets change in copper for silver, on which the small 
commission is freely paid. The neighbouring shops that 
want accommodation in either way, copper for silver, sil- 
ver for copper, copper and silver for gold, or gold for silver 
in any quantity, are sure of finding all they want at the 
money-changer's stall. A most smiling, happy, unspecu- 
lative tribe of bankers are they. If you look at one of them, 
she will expect you to pay her a small commission — which 
small commission in time accumulates to a verv handsome 
45 



298 THE PORTERS. 

fortune, to go down, always augmenting, from generation 
to generation. An umbrella, fixed on her counter, forms a 
canopy over her head, to protect her highness from the sun. 

Not quite so opulent, but much more captivating, are the 
female venders of fried fish — magnificent-looking women, 
fresh from the sea-side, whence they have come in the ear- 
ly morning. You may know them by their yellow-plaided 
neck-kerchiefs, their gipsy-looking faces, their snow-white 
linen sleeves, tucked up to the bend of the beautiful arm, 
their red-striped aprons and blue gowns. Of these syrens 
let the fish-hater beware. With her earthen pan, in which 
a charcoal fire is kept alive by a fan of rushes, her soles or 
herrings smoking and browning on the said fire, the basket 
of dried flags covered with fresh green flags by her side, 
filled with "live" fish, cooling in beds of fresh rushes — her 
bonny figure seated on a stool, and her well-dressed, dan- 
gerous feet peeping out beneath her long petticoat, St. An- 
thony himself could scarcely refuse to take a fry or two 
from those clean taper fingers. She holds the fish on a 
skewer, and turns the little martyr round and round, until 
he is done to a turn, the mouth watering while the fragrant 
odour breathes around ! 

The egg-woman is a more quiet kind of body, though she 
too seems to be sitting for her picture, dressed in her tidy 
green apron, her russet gown and linen sleeves, her ruby 
kerchief negligently flung over her head, and flowing over 
her shoulders behind. Next comes, shouting his " oil to sell," 
a great farmer's-boy-looking sort of a fellow, in a gay straw 
hat. A goat-skin sack of oil is tied round his left shoulder, 
through the tail of which he admits the smooth liquid to de- 
scend into brass pint or half-pint, or smaller measure, for 
the customers whom he has the happiness to serve. 

The porters are now the only remaining representatives 
of the Lazzaroni to be seen at Naples. They form a king- 
dom within themselves, of which every individual is mon- 
arch "of all he surveys." One of these, putting down his 
oblong-square flag basket on its end, dressed in his shirt 
open halfway down his sunburnt hairy breast, where also 
the scapular — his amulet — makes its appearance, and fur- 
ther decked out in his loose cotton trousers that scarcely 
descend below the knee, bound tight at the waist bv a red 
cotton handkerchief, his blue jacket suspended on the very 
end of his shoulder, his face and huge whiskers crowned 
by a red cap, his long pipe in his mouth, supported by his 
left hand, his right, holding his well-worn cords, resting on 
the other end of his perpendicular basket, w r hile his brawny 
naked legs and feet betray his occupation, stands looking 
at the passing scene with an air of ineffable contempt. 



THE TOLEDO. 299 

When he has done smoking, and imagines that he has suf- 
ficiently vindicated his dignity by attitudinizing, he will 
place his basket flat on the ground, and go to sleep in it, until 
a job comes to summon him from his slumbers. 

At every corner of every street there is a stall for maccaro- 
ni, where it may be seen served' out from morning to night 
in all sorts of ways — hot or cold, in its own plain soup, or in 
savoury soup, or mingled with a little stew, or simply boiled, 
or baked, or in cakes, or in elongated ropes of about a mile 
in length. When graced by the savoury soup, it seems to be 
most popular. It is handed out smoking hot to the ragged 
customer, in an earthen dish ; he, without any ceremony, 
takes up the maccaroni in his hand, and introducing the 
extremities of three or four ropes at once into his thorax, 
lifts his hands high in air, and the whole dishful vanishes in 
a trice. The soup is drank at discretion, either with a 
wooden spoon, or ex abrupto out of the dish itself; the lat- 
ter more expeditious mode of proceeding being usually 
preferred. 

The water- vender is met everywhere, and at all hours of 
the day. The ice-man is more stationary, though equally 
persevering. Here the female restorer of old chairs is busy 
with her rushes. There the smirking milliner's maid is 
tripping it on the fantastic toe, with a bandbox in her 
hand — she is wholly French — and out of keeping, in her 
trim cap and ribands, with such a scene. Everybody lives 
in the street. The baker's shop is thrown so much open, 
that all the mysteries of his art are conducted in public. 
It is the same with the tinman, whose hammer never 
ceases to hammer; the blacksmith, whose bellows are per- 
petually blowing, whose fire, in the hottest day, still burns 
on as fierce as ever, and whose anvil never gets a mo- 
ment's rest all the day long. All the gay shops are in the 
Toledo. All the pretty women of Naples show off in the 
Toledo. There the idler constantly lounges — there the 
merchants meet on business — there the military men are 
riding or walking up and down in their splendid uniforms. 

The number of lottery shops in the Toledo, and, indeed, 
in every street of Naples, is surprising. There is a new 
lottery every fortnight, if not every week; and the bureaus 
are so much frequented the whole of the day, that a stran- 
ger would suppose the principal occupation in Neapolitan 
life is speculation in lottery tickets, or rather lottery num- 
bers, for the chances are created in this way: The buyer 
chooses, two, or three, or more numbers, according to the 
extent of his gambling disposition, say 32, 87, 92, or any 
other series he likes best within the range of 200 or 300, 
comprised in the adventure. Upon each of the numbers 



300 THE SICILIANS. 

which he selects, he bets as much as he pleases, within a 
limited sum, which he pays down. If any of his numbers 
be drawn a prize, he receives three or four times the 
amount of his wager. 

If I ever entertained any doubt as to the bad effect of 
lotteries, especially on the less affluent orders of society, 
who seemed to be the principal customers of the offices at 
Naples, the crowds of disappointed mothers and fathers ol 
wretched families, whom I have seen returning from these 
royal establishments on the days when the prize numbers 
were proclaimed, would have dissipated all such doubts in 
a moment. These lottery schemes, I regret to add, seem 
to yield a constantly increasing revenue to the crown ; it 
is understood that the king has already, since his acces- 
sion, realized in this way upwards of a million and a hall 
of money, which, instead of being applied to the public ser- 
vice, though it stands very much in need of assistance, he 
has deposited as his own private property in the funds ol 
France and I in order to secure e Teat for 

himself in the event of a revolution xtreme- 

ly apprehensive. 

Nevertheless. 1 learned from well-informed quarters, that 
the Neapolitan people, generally e ■ not yet pre- 

pared for any violent changes. T be content, it 

is imagined] if Lho council of mini 10 comp< 

as to repre6e me degree, the n d wishes 

of the age, instead of prejudh turyold. H 

ing been obliged to pay d< arly to Austria, in the shape of 
indemnities for the e;: of 1821, they 

are not disposed, it is thought, soon to try a simitaf experi- 
ment. 

It is, however, very certain, that in S ious dis- 

content prevails, and is very likely to explode in insurrec- 
tion, unless the grievances of the couni and 
that, too, with no niggard hand. The Sicilians are still 
obliged to pay an amount of taxation fixed in proportion 
to the price of corn in 1815-16, while the war prices still 
existed. Nothing can be more unjustifiable than the con- 
tinuance of such a standard as that, inasmuch as, at the 
present day, the)'- do not receive for their wheat above 
one-third of the price which they then obtained. The irri- 
tation arising out of this system of impost is not a little ag- 
gravated by the traditionary odium which has aiw 
alienated the Sicilians from the Neapolitans. 

The king, who, by the way, is at length said to have some 
hope of a family, has moreover gained the reputation of 
being extremely avaricious. He is governed by his uncle, 
Leopold, who is the viceroy of the Austrian ambassador 



THE MUSEUM. 301 

and neither of these persons seems inclined to listen, for a 
moment, to any proposition of a reforming tendency. A 
government consisting of a few men of talent and modera- 
tion, acquainted with the spirit of the times, might render 
great services to the two kingdoms. Without touching 
fundamental institutions, they have abundance of margin 
in these institutions, even as they now exist, for the intro- 
duction of great and beneficial gradual improvements. 
The realm of Naples has its provincial councils, which ex- 
ercise some degree of control over the taxation of the coun- 
try, at least so far as every species of local expenditure is 
concerned. T he remonstrances of these councils go direct 
to the king, without passing through the hands of any min- 
ister, and are almost uniformly attended to. The code 
Napoleon prevails, and the influence of that body of civil 
law is everywhere inclining towards democracy, on ac- 
count of the perpetual division and subdivision of property 
which it enjoins. The king, however, checks that tenden- 
cy as much as he can, by assuming to himself a dispensing 
power, by which he renders the law inoperative in particu- 
lar cases. This usurpation meets with no resistance from 
the judicial authorities ; the number of judges and adminis- 
trators of the law, in various capacities, is enormous ; they 
are all badly paid, and of course submissive to the court, 
as well as venal to the people. In the Neapolitan kingdom, 
also, landed property is excessively taxed. The palaces 
are vigilantly secured at all points by Swiss guards; and 
a whole park of artillery is so arranged that it may be 
brought to bear in a moment on any large masses of the 
people that could by possibility be collected. All these 
things, taken in connexion with what has lately happened 
in Portugal and Spain, sufficiently indicate an approach- 
ing crisis at Naples, for which, I suppose, with the usual 
blindness of a court taken up more with its own heart- 
burnings and intrigues than with the interests of the coun- 
try, the authorities will wait, when a sudden uncalculating 
and sanguinary commotion shall probably rouse the whole 
kingdom from its lethargy. 

The museum alone, with its matchless and almost count- 
less statues taken from the ruins of Herculaneum and 
Pompeii, and collected from other sources ; its halls replete 
with the ornaments and utensils of ancient times gathered 
from those splendid cities embalmed through long ages by 
the lava and the ashes of Vesuvius, as if purposely set 
apart for the information of our age ; its splendid galleries 
of paintings; its marbles, and bronzes, and libraries, and 
scrolls, recovered from the fires of two thousand years 
ago ; these and an endless variety of other objects well 



302 



RETURN HOME. 



worth examination, ought to detain the traveller, and keep 
him constantly occupied for months in Naples ; upon the 
whole the most agreeable city I have ever visited. There 
is a festive cheerfulness about the streets ; a purity in the 
air, arising, doubtless, from the proximity of the finest bay 
in the world open to the Mediterranean, which I have not 
experienced elsewhere. 

And then, what still remains ? Vesuvius — H< rculaneum 
—Pompeii, the w . within view of each 

other, to be found on the 

Well explored, th nil Pozz rtd- 

a-mare, Sorento, Salerno, Pa 
cida, and I.schia, to furn 

merit, scarcely to be exhausted. I f to 

those which 1 could visit at my mo — its 

victims now uoshrouded m th I the 

old Romans, and I 

I then, Q9th Januar] 
board the San /' ag the shore 

of Italy to Genoa, pi 

Dijon, Paris, an*: v. 1 

felt myself once mure in the bosom o( 



EXPENc 



as some of my readers might wish to m::ke 
the same journey which l hat 
to know, beforehand, I 

would be likely to 10011 
these m alters. 



• 50 






Fare by stenmboat to Eoulopne 

Do. to Paris hy diligjM 

Do. in diligence to St] 

Do. in diligence to Baden - - 

Do. from Baden to Ca 

Do. from Carlsrbue ;<> Ulna 

Do. from Ulm to .Mir i 

Do from Munich to Vienna 

Expenses of posting from Vienna to 
Pesth 

Fare in steamboat from Pesth 

Mohlava 43 

Do. in fishing-boat to Orsova - • - 4 

Fare in steamboat from Gladova to 
Argulgradt ; 

Do. in Zantiote-boat from Ar f - 

to Rntsehuk 7-10 

Paid for horses from Rntsehuk to 
Constantinople 6W 

Usual charge for oajqjiie from Pera 
to Therapia 9 

Do. from Therapia to Constantinople 9 

Fare in sailing-packet irom Constan- 
tinople to srnyma 

Passed in Hinde cutter from Snirrna 
to Vourla 

Do. in H. M. S. Portland from Vour- 
la to Napoli ...... — 

Paid for horses from Napoli to Epi- 
daurus 9 

Fare in boat from Epidaurus to the 
Pirajus 6 



- SO • 



franks, eta. 
•'»- buries from the Pincus to 

. s 

vns to Corinth - - - » 

- & 

Pmfaa 

118 

n Trieeta to 

• 86 

S« 

agna - - - 8 

from Bo- 

io — 

- • 76 

M 9888 to 

- - 175 

rom Genoa to Tuno 40 

- arnage from Turin 
eva - - - 

63 

tar : — 

Do. in mail from Dorer to London - 43 

■«* Twentv five frnnks may be gentralty 

stances. They may be set oc wn at 



tone 



The i 



SB 



ranfca. The ran? to the 

Giadova to Galaex. is 

franks, and in a saihne packet from 



APPENDIX A. 



TREATY OF ALLIANCE CONCLUDED BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY 

ON THE 8th OF JULY, 1833. 
In the Name of Almighty God. 

TRANSLATION. 

His Imperial Majesty, the most high and most puissant Emperor and Autocrat 
of all the Russias, an-J Oil Highness, the most high and most puissant Emperor of 
the Ottomans, equally animated by a sincere desire to maintain the system of peace 
and good harmony happily established between the two Empires, have resolved to 
extend and to strengthen the perfect amity and confidence which reign between 
them by the conclusion of a Treaty of defensive Alliance. 

In consequence, their Majesties have chosen and nominated as their Plenipo- 
tentiaries, that is to say, his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the most ex- 
cellent and the most honourable Alexia Count Orloff, his Ambassador Extraordi- 
nary at the Sublime Ottoman Porte, &c. «fcc. 

And Mr. Appolinaire Routeneff, his Extraordinary Envoy and Minister Pleni- 
potentiary at the Sublime Ottoman Porte, Ace. Ace. 

And his Highness the Sultan of the Ottomans, the most illustrious and most ex- 
cellent the oldest of his Viziers, Ilosrew-Mehmet Pasha, Seraskier Commander-in- 
chief of the regular Troops of th»- Line, and Governor-general of Constantinople, 
&c. <fcc. ; the most excellent and the most honourable Ferzi-Achmet Pasha, Mou- 
chir and Command. -r of his Highness's Guard, dec. dec, and Hadji-Mehmet-Akif 
Effendi, actual Reis Effendi, Ac. Ax. 

Who after havin l 1 their full powers, which have been found in good 

and regular form. i uj»on the following articles. 

Article I.— There shall be for ever Peace, Amity, and Alliance between H. M. 
the Emperor of all the Russias, and H. M. the Emperor of the Ottomans, their Em- 
pires and their Bu well by land as by sea. This Alliance having solely 
for its object the common defence of their States against all attack, their Majesties 
promise to have a mutual and unreserved understanding as to all objects which 
concern their tranquillity and sail tv n ind to lend to each other for 
this purpose materiel Buccoura and the most efficacioui assistance. 

Article II. — The Treaty of P lidded at Adrianople on the 2d of Septem- 

ber, 1829, as well as all the other Treaties comprised in it, as well as the Conven- 
tion signed at St. P . on the Uih of April, 1830. and the arrangement con- 
cluded at Constantinople on the 9th (21st) of July, 1S32, relative to Greece, are 
continued throughout all their tenour by the present Treaty of defensive Alliance, 
as if the said Transactions had Led in it word for word. 

Article III. — In consequence of the principle of conservation and of mutual de- 
fence which serves as the basis for the present Treaty of Alliance, and by reason 
ofthe most sine, re desire to ■ I iration. the maintenance, and the entire 

independence ofthe Sublime Porte. H. M. the Emperor of all the Russias, in case 
that circumstances which might ajjain determine the Sublime Porte to claim naval 
and military aid from Russia, should occur, although the case be not now foreseen, 
if it please "God, promises to furnish, by land and sea, as many troops and forces 
as the contracting parties shall deem necessary. It is accordingly agreed, that in 
this case the forces by land and sea whose assistance the Sublime Porte shall de- 
mand, shall be held at its disposal. 

Article IV.— According to what has been said above, in case one of the two 
Powers shall have demanded assistance from the other, the expenses only of pro* 
visions for the forces by land and sea which shall have been furnished, shall fall 
to the chartre ofthe Power which shall have demanded the succour. 

Article V.— Although the two high contracting Powers be sincerely disposed 
to maintain this encasement to the most remote period, inasmuch, however, as it 
is possible that hereafter circumstances may require some alterations in this 
Treaty, it has been agreed that its duration should be fixed at eight years, to run 
from the date ofthe exchange ofthe Imperial Ratifications. Tke two Parties, be- 



304 



APPENDIX A. 



fore the expiration of that term, shall agree according to the state in which thiofs 
shall be at that epoch, upon the renewal of the Treaty. 

Article VI.— The present Treaty of defensive Alliance shall be ratified by the 
two High Contracting Parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Constan- 
tinople, within the period of two months, or sooner if possible. 

The present Instrument, containing six Articles, and to which the last hand shall 
be put by the exchange of the respective ratifications, having been drawn up be- 
tween us, we have signed and sealed it with our Seals, in virtue of our full powers, 
and delivered, in exchange for another of the like tenour. into the han Ja of the 
Plenipotentiaries of the Sublime Ottoman Porte. 

Done at Constantinople the 26th of June, (8th of July.) in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-three, (the fcOth of the moon of Sal ear )*49 of 

the Hegira.) * 

(£/P*P nt Albxis Orloff. (L. 8.) 

(feigned.) A. Boitenbfp I. 8.) 



Separate Article of the Treaty of Alliance concluded betitten Russia and Turkey, 
onthevth of July 

In virtue of one of tli. Patent Treaty of defen- 

sive Alliance concluded b< : - iblime P..rt. an I 

Russia, the two High < 

succours, and the m«.-i efficacious assistance, for ihe sat 
states. Neverth* k li M ■ i 

BubUme Ottoman Porte the expense and the incom 
to it from lending such ma i 
circumstances place the BubUme P..rt<- un 
lime Porte, in luu of the succour which it >s 6< . 

ing to the prineij \dht of th>> Patent Treaty, should limit its action in 

favour <,J th4 imperial Court of Russia to shutting the strait of the DardaneOew. 
that is to say, not to permit any foreign vessel of tear to enter it under anv pr» 
text whatew 

The present separate and secret Article shall have the same force and rslidity 
as if it were Inserted word for word in the Treaty of defensive Alhanoe ofthta day 

Done Si Constsntlrtopls the 2Gth of June. («th of July.) in the year on' 
eight hundred and thirty-three, (the 20th of the moon of Safer, in the year 1219 of 
the Hegira.) 

(*'Pned) CotsT Alexis Orloff. (L. 8 ) 

(Signed) A. BovnOfft I 8.) 



APPENDIX B. 

TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY l ONCUMHD AT ST PE 
TERSBURG, BY ACHMET PASHA, ON THE 29th OF JANUARY, 1531 

TRANSLATION. 

The most high and most puissant Ottoman Emperor, mv benefactor and master 
on the one part, and the most high and most magnanimous Emperor of all the Rua 
sias, on the other, animated by the desire with which thev are inspired b* the sin- 
cere friendship, cordiality, and confidence, that happily' exist between 'them to 
5E22K de J ml . ,vel y c^rtfin Points of the Treaty concluded between the two High 
l^trTfnr^wl M ° Vle ^' hlC \ h ^ e ^ 0t *?" ^0"^ into execution, bar. 
named for this puipose as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to sav. H M • e Otto- 
£SrfS P f r °K' fi, s E «ellency Mouchir Ahmed Pasha, M.Iitarv Counsellor of The 
Seraglio, Ambassador Extraordinary of the Sublime Porte at the Imnehal Court 
oTRussia, Arc ,V^; and H. M. the Emperor of Russia, their Excellencies the Count 

ah^Kir fi^it n e * CamP K° nhe Em P eror - *'■ ^'.: who. after ha*in« ^SipScajK 
Shown then luU powers, have agreed on the tV ; s - J 

fcaVkif «^>! a e - two . m ? hc °u"s having deemed it necessary to establiah. as 
S^Ln fh«^l ad / stmulated J? ^e Treaty of Adnanople, a line ofdemarca- on b£ 
tween the two Emwres in the East, such as may henceforth prevent «ry spit 



APPENDIX B. 305 

cies of dispute and discussion, it has been agreed that a line should be traced that 
should completely obstruct the depredafions which the neighbouring tribes have 
been in the habit of committing, and which have more than once compromised 
the relations of neighbourhood and friendship between the two Empires. Ac- 
cordingly, and as Commissioners on both sides have examined the localities, and 
obtained the necessary information for this purpose, the two Contracting Parties 
have resolved to proceed to the settlement of the frontiers in such away as that 
the object wisely laid down in the Treaty of Adrianople should be completely ful 
filled; and with that view they have adopted, with common accord, the line whicl 
may be seen traced in red on the map which is appended to the present Treaty. 

Conformably to the fourth Article of the Treaty of Adrianople, this line depart, 
from Port St. Nicolo on the coast of the Black Sea, follows the actual frontiers ol 
Guriel, ascends as far as the frontiers of Juira, thence traverses the Province 01 
Akhiskha. and strikes the point where the provinces of Akhiskha and of Cars ara 
reunited to the Province of Georgia. Thus the greatest part of the province ot 
Akhiskha remains, together with the other countries and territories mentioned in 
the said Treaty, tinder the dominion of the Sublime Porte, as may be seen by tha 
map, of which two copies have been made and collated by the Plenipotentiaries ot 
the two Powers, and which, considered as forming part of the present Treaty, are 
to be subjoined to it as evidence of the manner 10 which the future limits of the 
two empires I Ettled. 

After the exchange of the ratifications of the present Treaty, and as soon as 
posts shall have been erected by the Commissioners named on both sides, ac- 
cording to the line traced on the map, from one end to the other, the Russian 
troops shall evacuate the territories situ. it-'d beyond thai line, and shall retire with- 
in the limits which it prescribes. So also the Mussulmans who inhabit the incon- 
siderable territories which are comprised within the hoc r*iat passes by the Sand- 
jack of Ohronbhan and the extremities of the Sandjacks of Ponskron and of 
Djildir, and who may wish to establish themselves Within the territories of the 
Sublime Porte, shall 'be at liberty, within the term of eighteen months from the 

!" the Treaty, to arrange the affairs which 
attach them to the country, and to transport themselves to the Turkish States with- 
out molestation. 

Article H.— By the instrument executed separately at Adrianople relative to 
the Principalities' of Wallachia and Moldavia, the Subline undertaken 

to recognise formally the regulations made, while the Russian troops occupied 

P principal inhabitants with reference to their internal ad- 

ministration ; theooblime Porte finding nothing in the Articles of thai Constitu 

Hon which can afleel its righl ffl forth to recognisa 

the formally the iaid Constitution. 

It engages to publish In tin- l Finnan, accompanied by a Haiti shcrif, 

two iii je of ratifications, and to give a copy of the same to 

the Russian Mission at Constantinople. 

Aftei the form;..! recognition of the Constitution, the Hospodars of Wallachia 
and Moldavia shall be named, but for this time only, and as a case entirely pecu- 
liar, in the n. aimer which w;is agreed open some time ago between the two Con- 
tracting Powers, and they will proceed to govern the two Provinces conformably 
to the Constitution, in pursuant e of the atipulai mentioned. 

His Majesty the Emperor of Russia wishing to afford a oew proof of the regard 
and consideration which he entertains towards his Highness, and to hasten tha 
moment when the Sublime Porte shall SXercise the rights which the TreatieH 
scenic to it over the tn will order his troops, as soon as the Princes 

shall have named, to retire from the two Provinces. This point shall be eaecutec 
two months alter the nomination of the Princes. And as a compensation is due 
in all iustice lor the advantages which the Sublime Porte grants as a favour to tilt 
Wallachiani and Moldavians, it is agreed and ordained that the annual tribute, 
which the two Provinces ought to pay according to the Treaties, shall be fixe«* 
henceforth at six thousand purses (that is to sav. at three millions of Turkish pi 
astres ;) and the Princes shall take care that this sum be annually paid, counting 
from the 1st of January, 1335. 

It is agreed between the two Courts that the number of troops, which shall b. 
employed as garrisons in the interior of the two Provinces, shall be fixed in an in 
variable manner and with the approbation of the Porte, and that the latter is lb 
give colours to the garrisons, and a flag to the Valacho-Moldavian merchant vessel 
which navigate the Danube. 

Article III— With respect to the desire manifested by His Highness to execute 
scrupulously the engagements which he has undertaken by the third article of the 
explanatory and separate Act which is appended to the Treaty of Adrianople, am. 
ov the Treaty of Petersburg relative thereto, H. M. the Emperor of all the Rus 

26* 



306 APPENDIX B. 

sias is most willing to afford to the Sublime Porte new facilities for the execution 
of the engagements imposed by the Acts above mentioned, and it is accordingly 

1°. That although it has been stipulated by the second Article of the Treaty of 
St. Petersburgh, that the Sublime Porte shall pay annually, and during eight years, 
one million of Dutch ducats, it shall pay only five hundred thousand ducat* 
per annum. 

2°. That the Sublime Porte be no longer obliged, as it has hitherto been, to pay 
in the month of May, each year, and at one time only, the whole yearly sum, and 
that it shall henceforth pay the five hundred thousand ducats by degrees, but the 
entire sum within the interval from the month of May of one year to the month 
of May in the following year. 

3°. That his Imperial Majesty renounces his right to demand the difference, 
which arose at the period of each payment of the portion of the indemnities for 
the expenses of the war and the commercial claims, between the price at which 
the Sublime Porte paid the ducat in Turkish piastres, and the real value of the 
ducats. 

4°. That moreover, his Imperial Majesty, taking into consideration the embar- 
rassments in which the Treasury of that Empire has been lately involved, con- 
sents to the immediate defalcation of two millions of ducats, which is the third of 
the amount of the indemnities for the expenses of the war. 

5°. That considering the defalcation above announced, and the other arrange- 
ments already mentioned, the sum total of the indemnities amounts to four mil- 
lions of Dutch ducats, of which the first portion to be paid in one year, as one 
account, consists of 500,000 ducats, and which shall I I May 

1834, to the 1st of May 1835, and the corresponding portions in the following years 
shall be paid in the same manner until the whole d* : but upon 

the condition that the assurances, gurantees, and facilities stipulated by Am 
5, 6, 7, and 9 of the Treat v of St. Petersburg shall | ,eriod 

all their force, as if they'had been Inserted n in the present Treaty. 

Conclusion.— In virtue of the powers which have been given me, I have con- 
cluded the present Treaty, which shall be ratified by the Contracting Parties, 
and the ratification of which shall \.<- exchanged in the 

term of six weeks, or sooner if possible ; I have affixed to it my seal and signature, 
and I have delivered it to their Excellencies the Plenipotentiaries of the Court of 
Russia at Petersburgh, in exchange for the counterpart which they have deliv. 
ered to me. 

TVv, e th^ lgth Ramazan, 1249. 



PERIODICAL WORKS, 

NOW IN THE COURSE OF PUBLICATION BY 

THEODORE FOSTER, 

Basement Rooms, Corner of Broadway and Fiiie<»street» 

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PERIODICAL WORKS, 

NOW IN THE COURSE OP PUBLICATION BY 

THEODORE FOSTER, 

Basement Rooms, Corner of Broadway and Pine-street, 
NEW YORK. 



THE EDINBURGH QUARTERLY REVIEW. 



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4 Foster's publications. 

feet of moment, but it also exhibited that subject in a new light, and 
was calculated to rouse the slumbering reflections of readers, who at 
merely one view of the case, might be disposed to give implicit and 
listless confidence in the manner of handling it. 

This feature, therefore, in Reviews, we owe to the Edinburgh, and 
it is, on this account, entitled to the encouragement of all who have 
the interests of literature at heart. But this is not all its claim. From 
the commencement of the series until the present hour, it has been able 
to boast a constellation of talent, unmatched in the whole world, for 
such a purpose. Read the didactic arguments in that work; they 
are perspicuous, methodical, logical, and elegant in style. Have 
pity on the poor wight whose talents are in low estimation with 
them ; they are caustic, cutting, annihilating to his peace. They do 
not bruise with a bludgeon, but they pierce to the soul, whensoever 
they see high pretensions with low capabilities. On the contrary, 
they do not praise without discrimination or measure, but accompany 
their favorable judgment with observations that still farther embellish 
the matter, while they prove the competency of the person who pre- 
sumes to decide the merits in question. 

But the most important principle of the Edinburgh Review is its 
politics. In these it has ever been consistent, bold, and uncompromis- 
ing. Projected by a set of high-spirited, talented, and unflinching 
British Whigs, at a period when they had begun to entertain serious 
apprehensions from a Tory ascendency of a long standing, this Re- 
view was made the instrument of their exertions in behalf of popular 
liberty, the prerogatives of the crown, under constitutional restric- 
tions, the advances of science and useful knowledge, and a corres- 
pondent advance of men capable to assist therein, without regard to 
the adventitious aids of rank, or of riches. The British Whig, pro- 
perly so called, is favorable to restricted monarchy, and jealous of 
aristocratical interference; it admits the principle of a subordination 
of ranks, but spurns the notion of inordinate power. The defence of 
such opinions, undertaken by such men as have contributed to the 
Review, was a stumbling block to politicians of the opposite stamp, 
which they could not remove, and found it hard to surmount. The 
work became popular in a higher degree than any thing of the kind 
that had preceded it; it became the text-book of the wbigs, the book 
of condemnation to the court, and, if it did no more, it at least com- 
pelled a high-handed ministry to be wary in every measure that did 
not tend to" enlarge popular rights. 

It is, therefore, not surprising that a work conducted with so much 
talent, and embracing subjects of so interesting a nature, should ex- 
cite a large share of public attention. To the purely literary man 
it offers the critical remarks of those who prove themselves to be 
able, if thev are not biased judges ; it offers essays and arguments 
worthy of the pen of the philosopher and the sage ; to the political 
partisan it becomes a rule of belief, and a motive of action, if he be 
of the same side of the question, or it puts him on his guard, and ac- 
quaints him with the best arguments of his opponents, if he be on 
the other. 

The present reprint being a verbatim copy of this capital Review, 
is offered with confidence to the public, in the full impression that its 
pages are gratifying to the taste, informing to the inquiries, and con- 
genial, or at least curious, in political discussion. 



THE LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW. 



This Review was instituted as an antagonist to the Edinburgh. 
Not in literature, for the censures or applauses of that work were 
not questioned, except as to the degree of severity with which the 
Reviewers meted out castigation. It was as a political engine that 
the Edinburgh Review was so obnoxious to men of the contrary way 
of thinking. From the time of Sir Robert Walpole's ministry in 
England, the Tories, with little intermission, had been the dominant 
party there. These were men of the same feelings as those who up- 
held the " Divine right " of the Stuarts, although their zeal was de- 
voted to another dynasty. They believed that the tranquillity of the 
nation was best promoted by upholding the Royal prerogative ; and 
being of course aristocraticafin their own feelings, they were desi- 
rous of carrying the laws of subordination through all the grades of 
societ} r . It must always be conceded to the Tory landholders that 
they were, as a body, kind and protecting to the classes below them; 
but still the tendency of their principles was to strengthen the power 
of the crown, the privileges of the aristocracy, and to dictate the con- 
duct of all below them. In general, well educated themselves, they 
have been commonly averse to the popular dissemination of know- 
ledge. 

One would not choose to affirm that the Tory objection to popular 
education originated in the desire to hold the public mind in subjec- 
tion, by its ignorance, although such is the tendency, and the thought 
is likely to occur; but rather their belief is, that popular education 
inclines people in humble life to be dissatisfied with their condition, 
to despise their lowly occupations, and that labors, which must never- 
theless be performed, in order to satisfy the wants of the commu- 
nity, would consequently be neglected, to the public injury, whilst 
thousands of poor individuals were uselessly pining at evils which 
are the lot of our nature. Perhaps they were right, as regarded the 
first — the very first — advances of general knowledge; but they must 
have been short-sighted in their views, not to perceive, that, although 
at the outset a few might be distinguished above their fellows, and 
plume themselves upon their little vantage ground of information, 
yet, when the pursuit became general, the distinction was presently 
lost, and in the mean time the necessities of mankind were as urgent 
as ever. What is the result 7 ? We have scientific carpenters, ma- 
sons, and bricklayers, we have mechanics of all kinds conversant in 
general literature, we have painters, dyers, gilders, and others, who 
are acquainted with the chemistry of the articles they use. In short, 
we find all the various works of artisans performed better, and with 
more despatch, merely because the operative workmen know better 
what they are doing than they did before. Yet with all this there is 
no deficiency in the number of effective hands, nor is ihe murmur 
greater than "its ancient wont, of the misery of the individual's Jot 
in life. 

1* 



6 Foster's publications. 

But to return to the Quarterly Review. It ranks among its contri- 
butors names of the first degree of eminence, in the party to which it 
owes its being. Men of greatly enlarged intellect are enlisted in its 
service. Its pages present elegant and refined language, sound criti- 
cism, and much rational argument. Of the controversy between 
Whig and Tory this is not the place to speak: it is sufficient to de- 
scribe briefly the leading principles of the two parties, and then let 
them fight their own battles. But for those who wish to balance the 
arguments between the two, there can be no better criterion than the 
perusal of the Reviews which have been concocted and are still so 
iibly carried on by them. 

Among other peculiarities of the London Quarterly Review, it 
should be remarked that it is strictly orthodox, according to the Eng- 
lish meaning; that is, it upholds with all its force the Anglican 
church, as by law established, to the utter exclusion of all other sects 
from any privileges, except the peaceful and uninterrupted enjoyment 
of their own mode of worship. In other words it is a Church-and- 
State advocate ; it has ever been opposed to Catholic emancipation, 
Slavery abolition, Parliamentary reform, and the separation of the 
Church establishment from the Constitution of the kingdom. " The 
wisdom of our ancestors," is the expression most commonly in the 
mouths of the most distinguished, and it may be said, the most con- 
scientious of the Tory school. It skills not here, to say whether they 
are right or wrong; they are at all events powerful disputants, both 
as regards their arguments and their political furce. It is fair to say, 
that they carried the country safe through perils between the years 
1792 and 1815, which under any other hands must have sunk her in 
inevitable perdition; and also, that in their private relations, the 
Tories of England are honorable, kind, polite, and condescending. 
• If such be the private characteristic oi the Tories, it is a problem 
well worth solving, to ascertain how far their prol>s>ed principles 
accord with the well-being of society, and neither to give them un- 
qualified applause nor censure, until their arguments have been fully 
weighed against those of their political adversaries. 

On this account the London Quortcru, is a necessary ac- 

companiment to the Edinburgh. They are antagonist forces in bat- 
tle array. They frequently take the same subject for argument si- 
multaneously with each other, and the contest may then be fairly 
weighed. They not unfrequently review the same work at the same 
time, and upon such occasions they serve to illustrate each other. 
Add to all this, that the two armies, for such we mav call them, con- 
sist of warriors, brave at heart, and skilful in the use of weapons. 
The fight, therefore, is interesting, and the mind must be one of com- 
plete apathy, that feels no desire to view both sides of the combat, or 
that can look on unmoved. 



THE LONDON AND WESTMINSTER REVIEW. 



The Whigs and the Tories exercised their strength in the Edirt, 
burgh, and the Quarterly, for a length of time with various success; 
but as the popular cause increased in force in England, it began at 
length to be suspected that neither of these Reviews took a correct 
view of the case, and that the truth might probably be in another direc- 
tion. Popular rights had been long advocated by " the friends of the 
people ;" Parliamentary reform was gradually moving upwards 
above the horizon, when at length it was found advisable to institute 
a periodical which should maintain the principles of its party, in like 
manner with the others. 

The Quarterly was in all respects a high Tory publication ; one 
that carried the prerogatives of the crown, and the immunities of the 
aristocracy to their full extent, and reprobated the idea that "the toe 
of the peasant should kibe the heels of the courtier." The Edin- 
burgh was a faithful and jealous watchman of the machinations of 
its adversary ; constantly intent upon restraining the executive au- 
thority within due bounds, reducing taxation by its opposition to all 
sinecure revenues and other unnecessary expense; yet, like the for- 
mer, it was monarchical in its principles; or rather, it might be said 
to advocate a republican form of government, under an hereditary 
chief magistrate. There is something apparently anomalous in this, 
but not really so ; for such are the restrictions under which the per- 
sonages endued with the supreme executive authority labors, that th? 
only inalienable right which he can be said to possess, is that of tht 
succession. Be that as it may, it was as a Republican monarchy, 
that the- Edinburgh viewed the English government, and that was 
the principle which they maintained in all disquisitions on the 
subject. 

But the Westminster assumed another position ; the writers talked 
of the rights of man, and his political equality, they asserted the 
primary power of the people, and laughed to scorn the idea of the 
" divine right " of kings. This Review was, therefore, not only essen- 
tially Republican, but was in a great measure Democratical. As the 
Quarterly was ultra-conservative — to use a term applied by the parti* 
sans of that principle, so the Westminster was ultra-radical ; the 
whigs with their Edinburgh Review lying somewhere about half way 
between these extremes. But Radicalism is not in the best odor 
among the educated classes in England, and, therefore, the Weslmin-* 
ster Review did not meet with many readers in the upper ranks of 
society. Nevertheless, it is replete with home truths, tending to ele- 
vate mankind, as members of the community, teaching them also 
what are their immutable rights in the state, inviting them to culti- 
vate their faculties, and then to assert those rights. It aims at re- 
forms in every department; in finances, in the church, in the state, 
and in representation. It makes no determined opposition to the 



3 poster's publications. 

kingly- power, but it demands a strict investigation of all public 
actions. 

Being written in homely and plain language, the Westminster Re- 
view found its way among those emphatically styled The People, and 
it was looked for by them, rather on account of its politics, than its 
critical and literary notices. But the people, however curious for a 
time, are not the denomination of readers to sustain a work of this 
kind; added to which, many of the grievances agitated by this publi- 
cation have been set at rest. It therefore declined considerably, and 
continued to languish, although conducted with the best ability and 
skill, until its junction with the London Review, when it immediately 
began to look up, its tone became somewhat elevated, and the more 
decided of the whig party became its readers. 

The London Review was an attempt to trim between the violence 
of radicalism and the half way measures of the moderate whigs. 
Its design was good, and its writers were able; but trimming m poli- 
tics was never high in estimation by either party between whom it 
professed to stand", and is always found to be a harder task than the 
proposer expected. It gave satisfaction to none whilst it stood alone, 
but was found an excellent auxiliary, when incorporated with the 
over-warm Westminster. In their present conjoint state, these two 
Reviews exhibit a correct view of the popular condition, and ably 
support the popular rights. Some of the best politicians of the day, 
and men eminent in the walks of literature, contribute their lucubra- 
tions to the People's Review ; and not only the cautious and jealous 
whig, but the most far-reaching tory. finds a hint which it is salutary 
to reconsider in the pages of this work. 

The style is scarcely so academical as the Edinburgh, nor so polish- 
ed as the Quarterly, but it is more direct to the judgment, and more 
consistent with plain common sense; and there are not unfrequently 
startling truths uttered, startling propositions offered, and occasion- 
ally a dignity of language, suitable to a dignified subject. On the 
whole this Review is racy, interesting to the many, and connected 
with the general affairs of mankind, in their present informed and 
informing state. These three Reviews should be read and compared 
with each other ; they contain the arguments of conflicting parties, 
and, therefore, they will not only exhibit the present state of things 
in the political world, but will enable the reader to form just conclu- 
sions on the subject, in the abstract. If it be true, that we should al- 
ways look upon both sides of a question before we decide upon it, 
the remark will be in an especial degree applicable to one of politics, 
and the world has now become so generally interested upon the sub- 
ject, that there can hardly be one on which it is more necessary to 
be right. 



THE FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW. 



Reading generates a taste for reading, inquiry begets inquiry, and 
thus the continually excited mind is on the search for new informa- 
tion. Independently of the Reviews which made literature but a 
part, and a subordinate part, of their design, and occupied themselves 
more earnestly in the business of politics, there was something want- 
ed, which, without going back to the old and meager system of criti- 
cism, should take up Foreign Works, and treat of their subjects after 
the manner which of late years had been adopted ; — namely, to make 
the books themselves in a great measure texts, upon which to enlarge 
in original argument. 

The British and Foreign Review did not answer the end, because, 
taking two important branches into its plan, it could not afford room 
enough for either, to satisfy the inquiries of the curious; and was 
besides a little intemperate in politics, in which like the rest it must 
needs be dabbling. But Italian, Spanish, French, and German litera- 
ture, have greatly enlarged their borders, more particularly the last, 
and it began to be a matter of real importance to be acquainted with 
the best works in those languages. The French chemists and ex- 
perimental philosophers, the German historians and metaphysicians, 
and the Italian poets, together with the Spanish writings on various 
subjects, required to be handled with the pen of criticism, in such a 
manner as should induce an intimate acquaintance with them, and 
brins: about an intercommunity of knowledge. 

With this view the Foreign Quarterly was established, and for 
vigor of intellect and brilliancy of talent', it is not surpassed by any 
that are its contemporaries. Confining itself in a very great mea- 
sure, though not entirely, to literature, the reviewers have to grapple 
with much that is profound in science or in ethics. Enlarged infor- 
mation is, therefore, essentially and peculiarly necessary to them, 
and they have to call up likewise all the candor and fair dealing 
which should be the inmates of a liberal bosom, when treating upon 
matters which might seem to detract from the national distinction and 
eminence. In the German school more particularly they have to 
steer between Scylla and Charybdis; they have to avoid the imputa- 
tion of visionary, when they seem to approve the occult theories of 
the German metaphysics, and they must equally avoid the character 
of invidious and uncandid critics, where they refuse to go the lengths 
to which they may be occasionally invited. In the other schools of 
the continental writers, they have no such difficulties, yet they have 
to approve with liberality, and to reprove with moderation, that no 
accusation of nationalism may fasten upon them, and that no servile 
approval may be laid to their charge. They stand in a delicate posi- 
tion, between parties equally sensitive perhaps, from very opposite 
pauses; and the Reviewers have to do justice to both, as well as to 
their own unbiased sentiments. 



10 Foster's publications. 

That they have hitherto acquitted themselves well in their arduous 
duties, is manifest from the high importance that is attached to the 
Foreign Quarterly as a Review, and from the number of readers 
which it has. Their labors are entirely confined to the continent of 
Europe and to America, English books being strictly without the 
pale of their jurisdiction. But a fashion once started must be fol- 
lowed tnroughout its ramifications, in literature as well as in the 
lighter matters of taste. The Foreign Quarterly therefore touches 
incidentally upon Foreign politics : — we say incidentally, because it 
is not the practice to write an article in that Review, directly to bear 
upon the subject. In the course of the many disquisitions which, as 
original essayists, they have to produce, it cannot be, but that they 
must occasionally have to make reflections upon the government, or 
the workings of government, in one or other foreign parts. These 
however are altogether without the tinge of party, save only as they 
must harmonize with the general abstract opinions which they have 
imbibed, and are not intended to answer any other purpose than that 
of illustrating something with which it is connected, in the article 
where it is found. 

This however serves as a spice to the work, and takes off from the 
otherwise dry discussion which mere criticism would effect. More- 
over we learn thus to compare the different theories of different 
states. It is by comparison and by contrast that we arrive at the true 
sense of beauty or of utility, and this may always be made where 
conflicting opinions can be brought together. The PI Q 

is essential to the completion of that series v d epitome 

before us of the literature, the philosophy, the r i religion, 

and the prevailing tastes of the civilized world. It is in no whit in- 
ferior to the best of the others ; and it has occasionally claims to at- 
tention which the others can never possess, because it takes so wide 
a range, stands in so independent a position, and practises so praise- 
worthy a moderation. 



BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE. 



It is almost superfluous to describe this able periodical, which has 
been spread abroad to an extent beyond a parallel, and which exerts 
an influence where it is read that is actually marvellous. But al- 
though description will hardly do it justice, some general ideas may 
be given of it, tending perhaps still farther to increase its dissemina- 
tion in reading society. 

For several years the Blackwood has been remarkable both for the 
quantity of matter in its monthly parts, and for the great superiority of 
the articles of which it is made up. It is in no less degree remarka- 
ble for the bold unflinching manner in which it asserts the conserva- 
tive cause in politics, and for the masterly manner in which its poli- 
tical articles are concocted. It is notorious in this country particu- 
larly, that in nothing of periodical publication, is there such an 
avidity shown as for arrivals of Blackwood, from which the press 
teems with reprints until the matter is exhausted; and still the fer- 
ment is increased between one month and another, without a prospect 
or even a wish that it should be allayed. 

There is one feature of Blackwood which unfortunately can only 
be partially enjoyed in America ; it consists of the Nodes Ambro- 
siana, a series of dialogues the hint for which has probably been 
taken from the Nodes Attica of Aulius Gellius; but the modern 
Nodes are in the Scottish dialect chiefly, and so far a clog hangs up- 
on the points and beauties of the discourses. It is true that the 
novels of Sir Walter Scott have rendered the dialect much more 
widely understood than formerly, yet still a glossary is wanted, and 
consequently there is a diminution of the pleasure, to some ; but 
spite of such a drawback, there are pith, sprightliness, epigrammatic 
point, and sound criticism in those Nodes. 

Admirable, however, as this Magazine is, it comes here at a price 
so contrasted with that which is generally paid for the best prints of 
our own country, that there is a repugnance even to gratify one's own 
tastes at such a rate. The public generally, therefore, have been 
contented to read such extracts as those have thought proper to give 
in the periodical press of America, according to the fancy of the 
editors. Thus, although in the whole scope of American re-printing, 
perhaps every article of Blackwood is extracted, yet readers may 
wander far and wide before they see it all, and they never have the 
assurance that nothing remains unread. 

It was to obviate this difficulty that the present re-print was pro- 
jected. It is a verbatim copy of the original, put to press at the very 
moment of its arrival, and issued at the shortest period that is con- 
sistent with the due execution of the typographical labors. The 
greatest care is taken as to its general correctness ; in execution, it is 
neater than any other re-print ; it is sold at a tenth of the importa- 
tion rate, and the delay occasioned by putting the work through the 
press is too inconsiderable to be notic^a. 



THE METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE. 



This work owes much both of its excellence and its notoriety, 
from the papers contributed to it by Capt. Marryat, who has also the 
editorial charge of the Magazine. There are but few who have 
never read the admirable nautical tales of this clever writer; they 
are not only faithful sketches of nautical habits, feelings, manners, 
hopes, and dangers, but they contain also many an important lesson 
to the human heart. Capt. Marryat has done more 10 elevate the 
seaman's character in the eyes of the world, and has effected more 
in the minds of seamen themselves than all the lectures or disquisi- 
tions in the world could have produced; and his own fine talents 
have wakened up in his brother seamen an examination into their 
mental faculties. Formerly nautical sketc :.■ rce com- 

modity; now they are springing up on everv ride ; and that class of 
society, the description of which was like that of an exotic, is be- 
coming as well known as that of an indigenous plant. 

On these accounts the Metropolitan limgm rint was considered an 
acceptable re-print, and it is now presented to the public, cheap in 
price, convenient in form, and executed with care. 



FOSTER'S CABINET MISCELLANY. 



The reading public are not to be kept for ever in leading strings, 
and it is little less than an insult upon them, to heap up, as has 
been done, collection after collection of light, frothy matter, under 
the imposing but ill used title of works of fiction. 

It is with newly formed society, much as it is with children, in this 
respect. If it is wished to introduce a taste for reading, it must be 
commenced by furnishing that which is pleasing and attractive. 
Histories or narratives either of fact or of fiction, seem to present the 
most direct avenue to the human heart, hence they are most frequent- 
ly resorted to for the purpose of making impressions. But facts are 
more hardly come at than fiction, and actual circumstances cannot so 
easily be arranged into striking lessons; fiction, therefore, which 
should not be anomalous to experience, and which should concen- 
trate circumstances so as to bring forward the point in view, has been 
resorted to with success. But successful adventure of any kind, has 
always produced speculators of every calibre of intellect, and none 
more than that of writing fiction. Hence the few excellent perform- 
ances in that delightful department of literature, and the innumerable 
effusions of sheer trash, impertinence, or inanity. 

But, admitting for a moment, that all such works were equal to 
the pretensions of their authors, there is something mote wanted, to 
satisfy the rational inquiries of mankind after useful information. A 
little is well, even as condiments give a relish to more substantial 
fare, but too much diseases the appetite, and unfits for the reception 
of wholesome food. The cheap libraries of fiction in doing a little 
good have done much harm, and the latter can only be remedied by 
bringing into use something of a more wholesome nature. Far be it 
from the desire to supersede works of fiction altogether, by others of 
greater real importance, but it certainly will conduce to a much 
healthier state of things, to mingle solid with light literature, rather 
than adhere exclusively to either. 

There is, however, a great mistake in the notion, that because a pub- 
lication is professedly one of solid useful information, it must necessa- 
rily be dull and heavy. There may be such, no doubt, but these lat- 
ter are failures in the world of fact, as those above hinted at, are fail- 
ures in that of fiction; but, wherever there is truth and reality as a 
basis, there is less fear of the superstructure, than where the found- 
ation is either sand or elands, and by consequence there is a much 
greater probability that the inquiries will be satisfied, in a book of 
facts than of fiction. 

Mr. Constable, of Edinburgh, was the first to discover that a signa? 

service might be performed to the world, by imbodving, in a cheap 

and compact form, a series of publications that should have utilitv as 

their primary object, but rational amusement in the manner of their 

2 



14 Foster's publications. 

concoction. By issuing a small portion at a time, and in frequent 
succession, he conceived that he should impel the generality of his 
readers— not the studious or the literary ones, of course— to keep up 
with the publication, and not allow their reading to run in arrear. 
By a well-timed and well-judged selection of articles, it is believed 
that he accomplished, not only this ostensible object, but a secret and 
more important one. Gradually a desire for more solid reading in- 
creased in society, and that which originally began in the hope of 
amusement, was continued in the wish for information. Useful mat- 
ter was published at a comparatively cheap rate, it was continually 
accumulating, yet the expense was hardly felt. Encouraged by 
success, the enterprising publisher began to insert new matter in his 
selections, and the public in return rewarded his exertions and ex- 
penses by enlarged patronage. % u 

Were Constable's Miscellany current in the Lnited States, perhaps 
the Publisher of the present scries, would not have found it expedient 
to commence the latter work. But be it remembered, that in speak- 
ing of the cheapness oi Constable, it is but relatively— as compared 
with the publications in Great Britain generally— which is dearer 
than that of anv part of the world. Constal pub- 

lished at about "half the English rate, but the present work porp. 
to be at one-third even of Constable. 

The object then of Foster's Cabinet Miscellany, may be easily 
explained. It is to introduce to the reading public, a series of work; 
that shall blend entertainment wiih information— that shall take ofi 
the ed°e of the voracious appetite for mere fiction, which has been 
brought on bv too great a profusion of a orks oi that descnoiit n— that 
shall gradually form a collection of writings which may be referred 
to with satisfaction at a future day, whether to elucida.e a don: 
point, to refresh the memory, v.x to compaie with a more recent wri- 
ter -—that may be an ornament to any private library or collection ,- 
and that shall be cheaper than has eve. d. 

The works collected into Foster s Ca ■ »» be in 

every range of polite literature. It is initr, much as 

Possible every taste, and by an agreeable variety oi - well 

a^Mes' to keep up'a healthy excitement for rational en.ertainment 
Works of great length, of severe and deep investigation, and I of he 
more abstruse sciences will, of course, imd no nlace here. It is of the 
cheerfi 1 ee-ant and easv writings of the dav, that the selections 

SkiiroL'inUrto which ibe publttbei 
eVerv means to satisfy himself, before he commits a work to pre* 

ItlsTru^ed that the Cab net Miscellany will be a melange of all 
thai to^Mblein modem literature] it will assuredly be the me- 
dium of mtoduang works, which would hardl.y find their way to 
rhrAmerican^pnoiic generally, through any other source It will 
pre^mtlVe^ one-fourth 10 one-sixth, and in 

gm^c^ of the English cost, and the execution, 

it is hoped, will meet with general approval. 



BRIEF EXTRACTS 

FROM SOME OP THB 

NUMEROUS CRITICAL NOTICES 

OP 

FOSTER'S PUBLICATIONS, 

That have appeared in the American Newspaper*. 



REVIEWS. 

English Periodical Literature.— Fortunate and unfortunate too, as Americans, 
we are. that English Periooical Literature can be imported and sold so cheap in 
this country— fortunate in having served up for us at the very lowest prices the 
best productions of the best pens of our father-land, and unfortunate too. that in 
the brilliancy of European Literature, that of our own country is often bedimmed, 
if not obscured. Nevertheless the ultimate effect of this cheap importation of 
foreign Periodical Literature, will be to improve our own taste and modes of 
thinking, and thus to improve our style of Periodical writing— an effect indeed 
which it is having already, as we see the character of our Magazines advancing 
almost in proportion a.sthey come into competition with the Magazines from abroad. 
Again, the effect of the importation is to confine American writers to American 
topics an unexplored and abounding region, and, in so doing, an essential service 
is rendered to the people, in teaching them to value their own resources as a land 
for writers, as well as England, France, or Italy. VVirh such views as these, we 
take great pleasure in calling the attention of our readers to an advertisement 
which appears in our subsequent columns, of Mr. Theodore Foster's republica- 
tion of the British Reviews and Magazines. For the high estimation in which 
'.hese admirable works are now held by the Americans, the extensive circulation 
we understand they have attained throughout the Union speaks volumes, and 
evinces that Mr. Foster, as a literary caterer, did not overrate our national taste 
when he hit upon this novel expedient of disseminating these able specimens of 
composition among his fellow citizens. 

As organs of sound criticism as repositories of literary reference and scientific 
information, these reviews continue unrivalled, and are sought after and read, not 
Dnly in Great Britain, but in every court and nation on the European continent. 
They are acknowledged to be the most interesting of all European periodical 
works ; nothing that is valuable in politics, in science, or in general literature, es- 
capes their notice. No periodical works have ever attempted the vast range whicn 
they take of human affairs; nor can any legislator, philosopher, or scholar, entirely 
neglect them without feelmg the inconvenience attending this deficiency. Their 
pages exhibit a depth of political sagacity, and a development of intellectual 
wealth and energy, that must command the admiration of every intelligent reader. 

Since their publication here, reviews on a similar plan have been commenced 
n this country, that are conducted with great ability. It should be recollected, 
however, that many works of extraordinary merit appear in Europe, that do not 
roach this country until long after their publication, if at all ; and those among us, 



16 NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 

who are learned or curious, searching after useful information, hare no means of 
knowing their character, or it may be their existence, but through the medium of 
a foreign review ; nor should the statesman or the intelligent citizen be content with 
that meagre view of politics, which is afforded by the discussion of local interests 
alone. With no desire, therefore, to detract from the acknowledged and increas- 
ing merit of our own literature, permit us to say, that so long as the most valuable 
{)ortion of literary and scientific information originates on the other side of the At- 
antic, so long as the science of governme nt is considered worthy the attention of 
a free people, so long should these reviews fill a place in our libraries. — Boston 
Gazette. 

The publication of four of the Foreign Reviews at New York, is a matter in 
which every American student, and every American readi r vrbo wishes to keep 
himself acquainted wilh the progress of literature in Europe, the improvements 
In philosophy, the discoveries in science, the state of public mind in politics, and 
the inarch of the human intellect in the whole republic of knowledge, should feel 
an interest. 

In making the selection, the publisher has been verv happy, as, beyond all dis- 

fmte, the four Reviews named comprise the greatest talent i : extensive 

earning to be found among the irrileri ■>( the present age. It being well known 
that to all of these Reviews the most eminent authors as well as borne of the most 
distinguished statesmen are constant contributors. As these Reviews differ ma- 
terially from each other on many q . politics, in rpQfton, in 
political economy, dec, it b> • in order to possess s 
knowledge of the whole ground m literature occupied by the master- mm 
Great Britain and on the continent, (foi < (tends to the con- 
tincntal publications,) to be in possession of all of them. And with them it will 
not be necessary for the general reader to require more, as these occupy the 
whole ground We think the publisher has done a great service 10 the American 
republic of letters in this republication, that merits encouragement and re I 
— Inquirer and Courier, Philadrbphia. 

One of the first things with which we are struck in looking at the ! ewa, 

is the circumstance that their contributors are from the most eminent men in the 
kingdom. 

What a splendid catalogue of writers does the Edinburgh Review furnish. Lord 
Jeffrey, the late I,ord A ■ long time was editor, and 

was justly called the prince of critics 

CorrphoBUfl of British law, of science, and lit< i <ophers Pla* 

Leslie ; the elegant philosopher an. I scholar, the B M '• w '»o was 

so much occupied bj his labours for thil review that it al I thoughts, 

and as his son, his late biographer, BSJS, " the v * sort of a si 

drawing off the current of his resolution from his opus n . 
on English History." If we look at the writer* '■>', we find 

men no less distinguished in their OWO department of literature. Such men as 
Clifford, Southev, Scott, l.ockharf. Crol powers to 

adorn and elevate the pages of their r. v ew. Again « ham and his dis- 

ciples giving the Impress o\ their own original and tad in Js to the \% est- 

minstet : and the polyglot Rownng. enriching IDS review with U trea- 

sures of every language and tongue 

As might be expected, wilh such writers, the graver articles In these rev 
exhibit a manliness of thought, a strength o\ n extent of know- 

ledge which makes them most valuable '•■> the intellectual materiel ol 

the age. The articles in these reviews illy distinguished from those 

in the American reviews by the amount of information which they convey.— 
Portsmouth Journal 



MAGAZINES. 



Bl\gkwood's Magazine.— Blackwood's Magazine is one of the oldest, and de- 
cidedly, the sirongest and ablest Magazine in the world :— it is, perhaps, the widest 
circulated and best patronised of any thing of the kind now in existence. Its 
character is too well known to be reckoned anywhere below the first and highest 
standard of periodical literature. The writings of Professor Wilson should be 
read and studied by every man, and woman, and child, that is in the habit of using 
a pen lor the public reading, or ever expects to write a sentence for effect upon 
the moral, political, social, and religious condition of the world. Professor Wilson 
is, without doubt, the model standard of the age, ill respect to diction, nerve, 
beauty, and perspicuity of composition. He should be read for his style alone— 
and no writer of this country would suffer much loss of time in this way. — .V. Y, 
State Gazette. 

It is not a mere imitation of its prototype, for in neatness of typography it sur- 
passes its namesake. In all its parts, indeed, it is worthy of the highest praise- 
reflecting great credit upon Mr. Foster. — Sunday Morning Neics. 

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, for June, has been beautifully reprinted 
and issued by Theodore Foster, corner of Broadway and Pine street. This peri- 
odical is not to be despised, though it be not a native born citizen. Its politics wc 
invariably d-slike, in some of its forms or other ; but notwithstanding this there 
is scarcely a magazine whose appearance we like better. Its articles are always 
of the first quality in regard to exhibition of talent, and from men of first rate 
abilitv. We repeat our good wishes for the success of this admirable fac simile, 
and recommend all lovers of sound literature to subscribe for it. Mr. Foster de- 
serves encouragement. 

Metropolitan Magazine— The first Volume of the American re-publication 
of this popular British Magazine, is just completed. The New Haven re-publication, 
as connected wiih Blackwood, was purchased by Mr. Foster of New York, repub- 
lisher of the Foreign Quarterlies, some six months since, and with new type, and 
a separate appearance, it now seems to run a rival race with its Edinburgh neigh- 
bour, for the goal of public favour. Edited by one of the most popular writers in 
Great Britian. the author of •* Peter Simple," "Jacob Faithful." and other excel- 
lent tales, assisted by some of the first literary men of the country, "the metropo- 
litan" need not acknowledge an inferiority, within its peculiar field of enterprise, 
to any monthly in Europe or America. In the weighty matters of public policy, 
and the sober conclusions of profound learning, it may be indeed surpassed; 
but in all the brighter fields of fiction and fancy, its paths are well chosen and rich- 
ly bordered with the productions of a creative genius. Abounding in the splendid 
powers and finished graces of the Poet and the Scholar; it even in the more elab- 
orate departments of science, has its contributions skilled in the wisdom and sim- 
plicity of nature ; and Is capable of enlightening as well as pleasing. "Letters 
to Brother John," being a series of articles on the Physiology of the human frame, 
are particularly contrived to strip knowledge of its mystery, and make plain the 
hidden truths of our constitution and temperament. The necessity of the in- 
crease of general information among the people, and the dangers to be appre- 
hended from popular ignorance in relation to matters of vital import to the health 
and life of man, are urged as motives to the pursuit of medical science, and an 
investigation into the nature of things, and the succession of cause and effect. Few 
articles that we have ever read upon these subjects, can be compared with 
these " Letters to Brother John," and we cannot hesitate in expressing our ear- 
nest desire that the example of the writer may be imitated by the scientific men 
of the country, and result in the enlightenment of the public generally, upon 
the important topic of the "Physiology of man."— L. I. Star, 



T 



CABINET MISCELLANY. 



Foster's Cabinet Miscellany, Part IV.— We give Mr. Foster great credit for 
this admirable idea, being assured that the wants of the American public require 
something of the kind, to remedy that evil of the taste into which the greater 
proportion among us seemed inevitably running. We cordially agree with what 
the publisher says in his prospectus, that in this plenty of literature there can be 
no difficulty in selecting what is at once useful and entertaining. We are no ad- 
vocates for grave theories and profound discussions for our leisure hours, any 
more than we are for a constant and unvarying succession of novels and non- 
sense. On the contrary, light and elegant reading, which will instruct whilst it 
amuses, is a relief, which every reflecting mind feels, from more arduous thoughts. 
Not that we would altogether prohibit works of fiction, far from iL hut each in its 
turn is agreeable variety, and thus we may furnish our minds whilst we enjoy our 
hours. We are pleased with the opening work, which in this number is brought 
to a conclusion. It is in a happy strain of observation, apparently free from invidi- 
ous prejudices, and has enough of chit chat to remove the ordinary stigma affixed 
to a nook of travels— that of being heavy. Its successor takes some of the same 
grounds; and this we think is judicious in the publisher, as enabling his readers 
to see the remarks of different writers, from different nations, upon the same 
subjects, whilst the impressions are strong upon the mind. We sincerely wish 
this very judicious work success. — Evening Star. 

Foster's Cabinet Miscellany, No. 3. — We are glad to see this number appear 
punctually. It a.^urs that the enterprising publisher has met with sufficient en- 
couragement to proceed in his undertaking. Something of this kind was greatly 
wanted, to supply .he demand for literature, which is hourly increasing in our 
country, and which the enormous price of foreign books was calculated in a mea- 
sure to suppress. There has been works of a character similar to the one at- 
tempted, but the quarto and large octavo sizes are unwieldy to the reader. The 
present, we think, is exactly adapted for convenience It is easy to be held, fit for 
the pocket, and as the publisher informs us, may be bound separately at the end 
of each work. We sincerely wish him success —Sun. 

Foster's Cabinet Library.— The plan of this work is excellent Useful publi- 
cations are to find a place in the collection, in lieu of :he frothy fictions of the day. 
Mr. Foster's plan will embrace uscfulntsszuA economy In the most emphatic sense 
of those terms, and we hope he may succeed to his entire satisfaction.— Weekly 
Messenger. 

Foster's Cabinet Miscellany.— If the design of this work is carried out with 
fidelity, it will well merit the thanks o( the community. Our country has been 
too long flooded with light trash, and it is time— high time— that we had something 
more substantial. The numbers of the 4 Miscellany' which we have before us, 
are filled with a sketch of travels to. and residence in. St. Petersburg!), Constanti- 
nople, and Napoli di Romania, by M. Von Tiez, Prussian Counsellor of Legarion, 
which is a very pleasant, lively, readable, and withal, useful book. The numbers 
are printed on good paper, of the duodecimo size, with clear type, and are alto- 
gether the most "handy and neat of any of the many cheap republications which 
dropt down among us. — Brooklyn Advertiser. 

Foster's Cabinet Miscellany— The second volume of this very valuable and 
meritorious publication has been sent to us, and it fully deserves all the commend- 
ation which we felt called on to bestow a few days since upon the first. The 
present volume is entitled "A Steam Voyage down the Danube, with sketches of 
Hungary, Wallachia. Servia, Turkey, Arc : by Michael J. Quin, author of A \ isit 
to Spain," and a most interesting voyage it is, as we could easily prove if we had 
room to copy from the pages of the book. We have read nothing lately that so en- 
chained us to the page as some of the author's descriptions of scenery. &c, 'down 
the Danube." We wish Mr. Foster all the success he deserves in this enterprise 
of republication from European works. If he will continue to select 'for the 
American Market," with as much judgment as has marked his course thus lar, 
he Is in no danger.— Courier and Inquirer. 



LB 12 



